




■ 


^^^^^K»»2lf ' ^ ' 


Si ; ' 
1^ 



^^^:':i,t';:; -, 



^LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



#■ $ 

{united states of AMERICA. J 



IMANT BAPTISM; 



INCLUDING 



A SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS 



SUBJECT AND MODE OF BAPTISM, 

DESIGNED, CHIEFLY 

FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE YOUNG. 

/ 

BY r/DOUGLASS. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

KING k BAIRD, PRINTERS, No. 9 SANSOM STREET. 

18 6 1. 







Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

R. DOUGLASS, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court, for the Eastern 

District of Pennsylvania. 



TO THE PARENTS, TEACHERS AND GUARDIANS OF 
THE YOUTH OF PEDOBAPTIST CHURCHES. 

The motives which induced the Author of this 
smaU work to write upon the subject of which it 
treats, were, the hope that it might tend, at least, 
in some measure, to prevent those into whose hands 
it may fall, and for whom, especially, it is intended, 
from being drawn away from the simplicity of their 
faith in the doctrines it inculcates, and to check 
that party-proselyting zeal, which, alas! far from 
doing good, but tends to kindle up polemic strife 
upon a subject, which, in a period so eventful as 
the present, should have been left to slumber in 
oblivion, while the great doctrine of the Reforma- 
tion,— yies^t/ica^zo^i hy faith y — should more fully 
employ and call forth the varied talents of all 
Protestant Ministers in its defence and maintenance 
against ^Hhe man of sin/^ 

We cannot but pity the weakness and ignorance 
of those, — talented they may be, — whose unwise 



IV PREFACE. 

and anti-christian efforts have made it a duty incum- 
bent upon any of the lovers of truth and guardians 
of our youth, to undertake the task of writing such 
a work as is here presented for your consideration. 
And now having been — by promptitude and perse- 
verance, even while laboring under the heavy 
pressure of affliction — accomplished, I would say, 
— should any of the curious peruse its pages 
with the expectation of finding them replete with 
great originality of thought, it is not unlikely that 
they will be, at least, somewhat disappointed, as this 
is, generally, if not always, the result of expecting 
too much from any author. Yet, he would venture 
to state, that it is not devoid of what he considers 
his own, in many of the arguments advanced; and 
altogether so, — such as it is, — :in style of diction, 
except where there are quotations, which you will 
find marked by inverted commas. Ideas derived 
from a careful reading of other works, together 
with a few sentences which he has digested and 
thrown into his own mould, to suit the general style 
of the work, will be occasionally met with. 

Presuming, therefore, upon the candor of the 
Christian public, that they will overlook the imper- 
fections that may strike the critic's eye, and appre- 



PREFACE. f 

ciate the motives that influenced him in his first essay 
— he leaves it with them to judge how far he has suc- 
ceeded in establishing and defending the doctrines 
it advocates ; and should it but stimulate any who 
love the truth to effect that which this may have 
failed to accomplish, the object will be so far secured. 

It will be seen that its chief appeal is made ^' to 
the law and to the testimony/^ which it is the 
duty as well as privilege of our youth to consult. 

By a proper attention to this duty, they will so 
understand what the Scriptures say upon the sub- 
ject under consideration, that their minds will never 
be perplexed by the troublers of our Israel, who, 
when they labour, frequently expend it in attempts 
to draw away the fruit of other's labour. 

Let the youth then under your care so understand 
the subject of water baptism,— its nature and design^ 
—as set forth in this work, — then its opponents, 
whose zeal would be commendable if expended in 
earnest attempts to enforce upon all the necessity of 
the Spirit's Baptism, will be obliged to give up their 
fruitless efforts — efforts designed, especially, to draw 
away the lambs of the flock from their attachment 
to an ordinance the practice of which implies the 
belief^ that infants are included in the covenant of 



VI PRETACE. 

grace. If we can but imitate that zeal, the object 
of which we justly condemn, in giving to it a new 
direction, we will not have lived in vain 3 but will 
have the pleasure to reflect that we have been some- 
what instrumental in bringing such with us, to keep 
^' the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace." 

That those under your care may the more easily 
understand, as well as retain what has been written 
in the following pages, it is presented to them 
chiefly, in the conversational form. 

May your laudable undertaking be so crowned by 
the Divine blessing, that the objects of our peculiar 
regard may not be as children tossed to and fro 
with every wind of doctrine and the cunning crafti- 
ness of men ; but that they may safely ride in the 
broad bay of eternal truth ^^ till the storm of life is 
past,'' — the strife of tongues is o'er — is the prayer 

of 

THE AUTHOR. 



THE MODE. 

Scholar. What is water baptism, under the 
Gospel dispensation ? 

Teacher. The proper apphcation of water to 
its proper subjects, by the Ministers of Christ, in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

S. Where, in the New Testament, do we find 
water baptism first mentioned ? 

T. The first place you will find it is. Matt, 
iii. 6. 

' S. But, do not the Quakers confine the whole 
of the passages, that speak of water baptism, to 
that of the Spirit ? 

T, Yes ; they generally confine the whole to 
the Spirit's baptism. 

S. ' Can it be proved that, in this, they are not 
right ? 

T. That, in this respect, they are incorrect, we 
prove, — First, by the passage to which we have 
referred, where John is represented as the bap- 
tizer ; — Secondly, by the words of John himself, 
where he says : ^^ I indeed baptize you with water ; 
but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, he 
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with 
Jirer 



8 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

From these words we learn that it is the pre- 
rogative of Christ to baptize with the Holy Ghost, 
and that, therefore, the baptism of which John was 
the administrator was that of water. 

S. Who, may I ask, was the first baptizer 
mentioned in the new Testament r 

T. The first we read of was John, who baptized 
Christ. 

S. You speak of John the Baptist, I sup- 
pose ? 

T. Yes ; and for this plain reason, there was 
no other that administered that ordinance to Christ. 

S. Was there no other called by that name ? 

T. No ; not even John's own disciples, nor 
any others were at any time so called, till the 
sixteenth century. 

S. Bat why was John so called? Was it to 
express his mode of baptism ? 

T. There is no proof from any part of God's 
word that it was so applied. 

S. Are there not some who say that John was 
called baptist, because he immersed } 

T. Yes ; some of those who call themselves by 
his name, tell us so. 

S. Have we anything in the New Testament 
to prove that John practised a diiferent mode ? 

T. Yes ; in Matt. iii. 11, we read, — ^' I indeed 
baptize you with water," — thus you see, the Bap- 
tist describes what he himself practised. 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 9 

S. But what if the word with should be ren- 
dered in water ? 

T. In such a case, to be consistent, it would 
have to be so rendered when applied to the bap- 
tism of the spirit; — then would we read thus, — 
" He (Christ) shall baptise (immerse) you in the 
Holy Ghost and in frie." 

S. It strikes me forcibly that such a rendering 
of the passage, would not accord with the words 
of St. Peter, who, in reference to the Spirit's bap- 
tism, said, — " This is that which was spoken by 
the prophet Joel." Joel ii. 28. 

T. Very true, far from according with what 
the Apostle said on that memorable occasion, it 
would represent him as giving utterance, under 
the Spirit's influence, to an absolute falsehood. 

S. How does it represent the Apostle as 
speaking an untruth ? 

T. Plainly thus, — '' to be baptised, as some 
afSrm, is to be immersed ; the disciples were bap- 
tised on the day of Pentecost, with the Holy 
Ghost; therefore, on that day they were immersed." 
Now this, you will perceive, stands in direct oppo- 
sition to the divine promise, as quoted by the 
Apostle on that day : " And it shall come to pass 
in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my 
Spirit upon all flesh." — Acts ii. 17. 

S. It is now reported that the immersionists 
have got up a new translation of the New 



10 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

Testament, with the word baptize rendered im- 
merse. 

T. By such a rendering of the passage the 
error is so glaring that it should call forth a public 
declaration of high disapprobation from all Pedo- 
baptist churches. Now, when the word baptize is 
so rendered, as by that rendering they go to prove 
that to pour^ according to the language of the Scrip- 
tures, is to immerse^ they then make it very easy 
work to maintain that immersion means to pour 
out. 

S. Great must be the love of that system which 
has led to the daring attempt of altering the Word 
of God, and must be followed by pernicious conse- 
quences. 

T. To say the least, it destroys the harmony 
of different texts. Take, for instance, the follow- 
ing passages, — '' He that cometh after me, shall 
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, not many days 
hence." (Acts i. 5.] <* And they were d\\ filled 
with the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 4.) " This is 
that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." 
(verse xvi.) '^I willjoowr out of my Spirit upon 
all flesh." (verse xvii, ; Joel ii. 28.) Alter, then, 
in any of these texts, either the word baptize^ or 
the word with^ and what becomes of the harmony ? 
But take the whole as they are, and you have an 
unbroken chain, composed of the following links, — 
First, you have the prediction of John, that Christ 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 11 

would baptize with the Holy Ghost. — Secondly, 
the promise of Christ, by which he informed his 
Apostles, that, after the lapse of a few days, they 
should receive the baptism of the Spirit. — Thirdly, 
this promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, 
when the Spirit was poured out upon the Apostles 
and disciples of our Lord. — Fourthly, in this, as we 
have seen, the Apostles could discern the fulfillment 
of the prophecy in Joel ii. 28. That the prophecy, 
in this passage, speaks of an out-pouring, none, I 
presume, who believe the Bible to be the Word of 
God, will attempt to deny; and that the prediction 
v^di^ fulfilled by an out-pouring, I cannot conceive, 
how any can deny. Should it, however, be ques- 
tioned that the prediction was fulfilled by an out- 
pouring, then we would have no more agreement 
between the thing promised, and the mode of its 
accomplishment, than exists between the views of 
immersionists and those who believe sprinkling or 
pouring to be more scriptural. 

S, John then, it appears, could not have been 
called Baptist because he immersed. 

T. Just so ; and in this light, I think it will 
appear to ail whose minds are not, by prejudice, 
warped upon the subject. And could we suppose 
that John was called Baptist, because he immersed, 
then, by parity of reason, it would follow that the 
Apostles did not immerse because they are not 
called Baptists. 



12 CONTERSATIONS ON THE 

S. But do we not read that John baptized in 
Jordan ? 

T. Yes; in Mark i. 9, we read thus; <' And 
it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from 
Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in 
Jordan." 

S. Does it not then appear that he immersed ? 

T. No ; for the phrase, /?? Jordan, — in the river 
Jordan, — may mean any place within its banks 
which were, and are still, shelving, so that those 
who attended it could go some distance from the 
first bank before they reached the edge of the 
water. 

S. Is there any scripture to support this 
idea ? 

T. There is, both plain and positive. In Josh, 
iii. S, we read, " When ye are come to the brink 
of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still iji 
Jordan,'' 

S. But do we not read, /Mark i. 5,) that Joha 
baptized ^* in the river Jordan ?" 

T. Yes; truly so; but remember, it was, as 
John himself has said, — ^* ivith water." 

S. Do we not read that John went to Enon to 
baptize, because there was much water there ? 

T. We are indeed informed that he went there 
because of the water. 

S. Does it not then follow, if he went there 
because of the abundance of water in that place, 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 18 

that this was, therefore, necessary for the right 
performance of the ordinance ? 

T. No ; from the passage you have quoted, it 
does not appear that he wanted any more water 
than he could conveniently apply to the body. 

S. How do you prove this ? 

T. The thing is very clear from the fact that 
the orginal word which, by our translators, is ren- 
dered much, is correctly, — being a plural word, — 
translated many. John then went to Enon, — a 
word which signifies the city of springs, — because 
there were many waters there. 

S. But why should he want many waters ? 

T. Not for the purpose of immersion, for which 
one stream would answer as well as a thousand. 

S. For what end then were the many waters 
required ? 

T. Doubtless, it was for the same purpose for 
which the Israehtes encamped, by the waters in 
Elim. (Exodus xv. 27.*) Now, when we consider 
that <«all Judea, and all the region roundabout 
Jordan were baptized of him,^^ (John) within the 
space of six months, part of which was spent in 
preaching, in imprisonment, and in procuring 
locusts and wild honey to restore his exhausted 
bodily powers, — when all this is considered, to- 

* Let the young reader, by a careful examination of the 
papsage, learn the purpose for which the Israelites encamped 
in Elim. 

2 



14 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

gether with the days both of the ecclesiastial and 
natural year in which he could not have baptized, 
it is not at all probable that he plunged them, and 
that therefore the '^ many waters'^ were required 
for the end to which I have referred, or that for 
which Deborah drew Sisera to the river Kishon 
f Judges iv. 7,) where Elijah slew Baal's pro- 
phets. (1 Kings, xviii. 4.) It cannot be supposed 
that these resorted thither for the purpose of im- 
mersion. 

S. Does it not appear from Matt. iii. 16, that 
Christ was immersed ? 

T. The phraseology of John, on this subject, 
is so plain that it needs no explanation ; and there- 
fore we may use it as a guide in explaining pas- 
sages, that in relation to the mode of baptism, may 
be considered more obscure ; and it must be con- 
fessed that the Baptist had the best right to de- 
scribe what he himself practised. To say then 
that John immersed is a mere assumption ; and one 
not only against the strongest probability, but also 
against the plainest and most unequivocal term 
that could be employed in relation to the mode, — 
^' WITH WATER." 

S. But how could Christ come up out of the 
water if he had not been in it ? 

T. Very true ; if he had not been in it he could 
not have come up out of it ; and it is equally true 
that it may be justly rendered down to^ and up 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 15 

from ; but be this as it may, we shall simply take 
it as we read it, — '^ went up straightway out of 
the water." (Matt. iii. 16.) In all this <^ there 
is nothing about his going down under the water, 
or his coming up from under ihe water." And, 
indeed, it would be very strange if there were, 
within the sacred page, such a fiat contradiction of 
the mode so plainly described by John. 

S. Is it not said, when speaking of Philip and 
the Eunuch, that ^^ They went down both into the 
water both Philip and the Eunuch ; and he bap- 
tized him y* Acts viii. 38. 

T. Yes ; we so read in our translation ; but be 
it known that some of the best Greek scholars fear- 
lessly affirm that the prepositions in the original, — 
given by the Spirit's inspiration, — may be rendered 
to and from. But taking the passage as we find 
it in our present version, we cannot even then 
imagine that it conveys the idea of immersion, 
especially, when we take into consideration the 
circumstances under which baptism was then per- 
formed together with the customs of the East ; viz., 
that the Orientals, when they went to wash, or even 
take up water in their hands to drink, w^ere accus- 
tomed to step into it, — this the heat of their climate 
made refreshing, while the dress of their feet ren- 
dered it quite convenient. In this our day ministers 
have gone with their candidates into the water, 
and, after baptizing by sprinkling or pouring, have 



16 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

come up out of it. I will now give you a case in 
point respecting a Methodist minister and a Bap- 
tist minister, who baptized at the same time and 
place. The immersor took his candidate, and 
while going down, said, " And they went down both 
into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch," — 
and after immersing him, he came out, saying by 
the way, '< And they came up out of the water." 
Some of the spectators doubtless listened thus far, 
as to oracular proof of the necessity of immersion. 
Next the Wesleyan minister took his candidate, 
and went down into the water, repeating the same 
words — "And they went down into the water, both 
Philip and the Eunuch," and then took water and 
poured it upon his candidate, and came tip repeat- 
ing — ^^ And they came up out of the water, both 
Philip and the Eunuch." Thus you plainly see 
that ministers may do all that Philip is said to have 
done, without going under the water. The fact is, 
the narrative forbids our saying there was a suffi- 
cient quantity of water for the immersion of the 
Eunuch. The terms employed by the narrator 
will apply to the smallest quantity of water ; but 
cannot appl}^ to a river. " A certain water, ^^ is 
the literal rendering of the passage. Both geo- 
graphy and history show that it w^as not a river. 
Hierome, who lived several years at Jerusalem, 
and was well acquainted with the country, reports 
that about twenty miles from Jerusalem, in the 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 17 

road towards Hebron, there is a village called 
Bethsoran, near to which is a mountain, at the 
bottom or foot whereof is a spring, where*' — as 
we read in the Acts of the Apostles — <<the Ethi- 
opian was baptized by Philip." The spring here 
spoken of is still in existence, and goes by the 
name of the Ethiopian fountain. 

As we have already spoken of the fact that 
Christ was baptized, we will now inquire into its 
design. You doubtless desire to know why the 
Saviour should come to John to receive baptism. 

S. Earnestly do I desire it, and permit me to 
inquire. Is there anything in the New Testament 
upon the subject ? 

T. The New Testament ; as to the design of 
the Saviour's baptism, is most explicit. We 
learn, (Matt. iii. 15), that it was " to fulfill all 
righteousness y 

S. If this was the end for which the Saviour 
was baptized, — for what end did John's disciples 
receive the ordinance ? 

T. It is right to inquire into this, and I will, 
therefore, just here observe, that Christ did not 
mean by the expression, — ^fulfill all righteous- 
ness,^^ — that he should receive it just to answer 
the end for which others received from it his fore- 
runner. 

S. How are we to understand the meaning of 
the expression, — ''fulfill all righteousness.^' 
2* 



18 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

T. We learn (Acts xix. 4 ; Mark i. 4,) that 
John baptized unto repentance, and for the remis- 
sion of sins. It will not, in the face of this, be 
denied that the Baptist knew the end for which he 
administered the ordinance to others, nor yet can 
it be supposed that he was unacquainted with the 
character of Christ whose way he was sent to pre- 
pare. Let, then, these two things be deeply en- 
graven in your memory, — First, the end of John's 
baptism which was, as he himself expressed it — 
<< Unto repentance, and for the remission of sins." — 
Secondly, the character of Christ, as we find it on 
the page of the record — " holy, harmless, undefiled, 
and separate from sinners." In view of this cha- 
racter, as it appears, John declined baptizing 
Christ, — '^I have need to be baptized of thee, 
and comest thou to me ?" John could not con- 
ceive for what end the Saviour should come to 
him to receive it, being fully aware that, in the 
nature of things, it would not answer the end of 
his baptism, which, as we have seen, was unto 
repentance ; and, knowing, as he did, that Christ 
had no sins to repent of, he would, doubtless, on 
this very ground, decline baptizing him. But when 
John said, " 1 need to be baptized of thee, and 

comest thou to me ?" — the Saviour then replied 

" Suffer it to be so now ; for thus it behooveth us 
to fulfill all righteousness," — i. e, every righteous 
law, or appointment. The expression — '^ Behooveth 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 19 

US," is the same as if he had said, ^^ It is necessary 
that the ordinance, you^ — now in the legal line of 
the Priesthood, — should administer, and 7, — de- 
stined to be a Priest after the order of Melchesi- 
deck, — should receive." 

S. How does this appear ? 

T. '' John was THE VOICE, or herald, and 
Jesus THE MESSIAH, for whose coming and pub- 
lic manifestation he was to proclaim." Christ and 
John ; — the one the High Priest, ("Heb. vii. 17,) 
and the other his forerunner, then, as you have 
seen, in the legal line of the priesthood, — were both, 
according to the Jewish law, circumcised, and 
thus became debtors to do the whole law. (Gal. 
V. 3.) Now, as under the law, the High Priest 
was initiated into his office by washing and anoint' 
ing, so it "behooveth," or was proper for Christ to 
be baptized by John, who was, in this instance, 
<6 employed in a ministry quite distinct from his 
common one, and by which he was made witness 
of the sign which God had previously appointed. — 
<' Upon whom thoushalt see the Spirit descending 
and remaining, the same is he that baptizeth with 
the Holy Ghost." In this we have three things 
to consider. — First, Christ was then about thirty 
years of age — an age at which men, under the 
law, entered into the priesthood. (Luke iii. 23 ; 
Niim. iv. 3.) — Secondly, the application of water 
to Christ, by his forerunner, which answered to the 



20 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

law of washing, which was performed by sprink- 
ling. (Num. viii. 6, 7.) — Thirdly, the descent of 
the Holy Ghost upon him, which strikingly pointed 
him out, according to the previous sign, as the 
Messiah — the Anointed One, — the voice from 
heaven rendering it still more striking, — answered 
to the holy anointing oil, ("Exodus xxx. 30,) which 
w^as poured upon the head of those who were set 
apart for the priesthood. (Psalm cxxxiii. ; Acts x. 
37, 38.) From what has just been said, it will, I 
think, appear very plain that Christ's baptism, ad- 
ministered by John, w'as no more designed as an 
example for us, except as to general obedience, 
than the fact of his being crucified, &c., which, 
likewise, belonged to his priestly office. 

S. But was not John's baptism Christian bap- 
tism } 

T. No; that it was not, and, indeed, could not 
be, to you will be quite evident when you con- 
sider the following reasons, — First, gospel bap- 
tism was not instituted till after Christ's resurrec- 
tion. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) Here we have the form 
of words to be used, which, before this, you will 
find no where in the New Testament. Secondly, 
John was denominated forerunner, which cha- 
racter, as we have seen, he sustained in reference 
to the promised '^ seed," whose way he was sent 
to prepare. The gcspel dispensation was not 
then commenced ; for the ceremonial law was still 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 21 

in force. This we learn from the fact that Christ 
commanded it to be observed. (Mark i. 44.) 
" Show thyself to the priest and offer for thy 
cleansing those things which Moses commanded." 
Now, as the offering of beasts, according to this 
law, was typical of the one offering of Christ, it 
must have remained in force till the antetype 
was offered, — hence, when Jesus hung upon the 
cross, he cried, ^^It is finished !" that is, the cere- 
monial law is abolished, and thus, '' Blotting out 
the handwriting of ordinances, &c.," he took it out 
of the way, naihng it to his cross. (Col. ii. 14.) 
It is worthy of remark, that Jesus, before his 
sacrificial death, instituted the Holy Supper, (1 Cor. 
xi. 23,) and that he instituted also, after his resur- 
rection, and a httle before his ascension, the 
ordinance of water baptism, (Matt, xxviii. 19.) 
Thirdly, that Apollos, though mighty in the Scrip- 
tures, only knew the baptism of John, (Acts xviii. 
24, 25, 26.) This, you perceive, was considered 
inferior to that administered by the Apostles ; con- 
sequently, it was necessary that Aquilla and Pri- 
scilla, who understood the nature of our Lord's 
baptism, should teach him the way of the Lord 
more perfectly. Fourthly, we now come to Acts 
xix. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, for, if possible, a fuller con- 
firmation of what has been so scripturally estab- 
lished. From this passage we learn that certain 
disciples at Ephqsus, though they had received 



22 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

John's baptism, were, notwithstanding, quite ignor- 
ant of the doctrine of the Spirit's personaHty ; 
yea, they had not so much as heard that there 
was a Holy Ghost. We need not then wonder 
that the Apostle, on hearing this, should inquire, 
^' Unto what then were you baptized r" As if he 
had said, " Ye surely could not have received 
Christian baptism, otherwise you could not be 
ignorant of a thing so essential to the validity of the 
ordinance.'* These, therefore, were baptized over 
again, and by this Apostolic act, the fact is pro- 
claimed, — that Johii's baptism is not Christian 
baptism. 

The lanofuaofe of St. Mark, as found in the com- 
mencement of his gospel, cannot be fairly con- 
strued to invalidate the truth of what has been 
just advanced. The evangelist speaks of the 
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; and, in 
doing so, it is evident that he does not intend, by 
such an expression, to affirm that the erection of 
the visible church of Christ commenced with the 
preaching of John the Baptist ; but, thereby, 
simply informs us, that as the Prophets spoke of 
John as the divinely appointed forerunner sent to 
prepare the way of the Lord, he would, therefore, 
commence his gospel of Christ by speaking of his 
voice, or herald, who was sent to declare, — '' The 
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at 
hand,^^ — not here, — '^ is come nigh unto you." 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 2S 

It will be granted, I presume, that the first 
Christian church was formed, by the Apostles, on 
the Day of Pentecost, at Jerusalem. Here they 
tarried according to the advice given them by our 
Lord, and here too, in attending to the spirit and 
letter of the commission, they added to the church, 
—to do so they had but part of a day — THREE 
THOUSAND SOULS ! 

S. So forcible, in relation to this subject, are 
the convictions of truth in my mind, that I do un- 
waveringly believe what you have so scriptually 
established. 

T. In addition to the ideas already advanced, 
and which have had so happy an effect upon your 
mind, there is another, which, to say the least, can 
have no tendency to draw you back to the inferior 
baptism of John, 

S. I must confess, whatever may become of any 
human system, I should Hke to hear what tends to 
verify that truth, — '^ He (Christ) must increase ; 
but /(John) must decrease." 

T. To deepen, if possible, the impressions of 
truth already made, I would just inquire — If the 
baptism of John had been Christian baptism, and 
if Christ, in receiving it at his hands, had designed 
it as an example for others to follow, would he not 
have been the first to receive it from him ? If others, 
then, received baptism before our Lord received it 
from his forerunner — what reason have we to con- 



24 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

elude that he intended his reception of it as an ex- 
ample for others ? Surely not, at least, for those 
who preceded him in that ordinance. 

S. What you have advanced is clear and con- 
vincing; but may I not ask — Should we not hear 
what others have to say upon the subject ? 

T. Yes ; with our religious principles well 
established, we m.ay, not to neglect what is of 
greater importance, occasionally listen to what 
others, who hold all the essential doctrines of the 
Gospel, have to advance against our religious 
views ; but then you must learn, — keeping before 
the mind the conduct of the Apostles who directed 
the attention of John's disciples to Christ, — how to 
guard against the wily attempts of those who 
would lead your mind back to the inferior bap- 
tism of John ; for, while such assume the office of 
a Mentor, they need, as well as Apollos, to be 
taught the way of God more perfectly. 

S. To me it appears quite evident, from what 
you have advanced and proved by the Scriptures, 
that there are different kinds of baptism spoken of 
in the New Testament. 

T. From a thoughtful consideration of the 
passages already cited, you will perceive, that 
there are more kinds than you, at first, discovered. 
John administered two, different in their nature, — 
First, his common one, which was unto repentance^ 
(Matt. ii. 11.) — Secondly, the baptism of Christ 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 25 

which, as he was ^^ holy, harmless, undefiled, and 
separate from sinners," w^as not unto repentance ; 
but special in its character. It was on this ground, 
as we have seen, that John declined baptising 
Christ. 

S. I perceive that the New Testament, — its 
phraseology, in reference to the subject in hand, 
being neither complex nor hard to be understood, 
— speaks of more kinds of baptism than one, as 
administered by man. 

T. In this you are correct ; and, according to 
my views, there are two more, somewhat different, 
to be brought forward. 

S. I must confess I feel much surprised at 
these statements : for, though I have frequently 
read the New Testament, yet I have not made the 
discovery. 

T. Your frank acknowledgment in this res- 
pect does not in the least surprise me, as I can 
account for it from the probable fact, that you have 
not, in particular, or before the present moment, 
bent your attention to it. The difference of which 
I speak — bear it well in your mind — is not in 
reference to the mode, but to the design of the 
ord. nance, and the form of words to be employed 
in its administration. 

S. 1 feel thankful for the instruction you have 
given me, and will endeavor, the next time I com- 
mence to read the New Testament regularly 
3 



26 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

through, to keep in mind what you now have 
advanced upon the subject. 

T. It is proper that you should examine the 
Scriptures, for yourself, upon this symbolic rite, — 
a rite, by some, exalted much higher than it was 
ever, by thought or deed, elevated by the Apostles : 
for we cannot conceive of its being so, without 
their giving some notice of it. That you may, in 
your future attempts, critically to examine the 
New Testament upon this subject, be led to a just 
and certain conclusion in reference thereto, it is 
necessary that you should be apprized of the fact — 
that there is a distinction between the ordinance of 
baptism which, as we read, was either administered 
by the Apostles, or by Christ himself before his 
death, and that which the Apostles administered 
after his resurrection. 

S. As your language here seems to imply a 
doubt as to whether the former was administered 
by Christ, or his Apostles, may I ask, — Is there 
any way of solving the difficulty ? 

T. Whether we can solve the difficulty or not, 
as to who were the administrators of the ordinance 
— the fact that it was administered by others as 
well as John, previous to the resurrection of Christ, 
wiJl alike serve my purpose. 

S. May I ask if there is any portion of Scrip- 
ture to prove the fact of which you speak, and to 
justify the conclusions which you draw? 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 37* 

T. In the Gospel by St. John, we are informed 
that ^^ Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples." 
(John iv. 1, 2.) What is thus stated took place, 
A.D. 27 ; but not one word about baptizing in the 
name of the Trinity ; and had it been so performed 
it would, no doubt, if held as a thing essential to 
the validity of the ordinance, have been mentioned. 
Be it observed that the new form of words, as 
contained in the commission deHvered by our Lord 
to his Apostles were, doubtless, designed to dis- 
tinguish the administration of the ordinance, — an 
ordinance, hkely, first administered by the Apos- 
tles on the Day of Pentecost, which was the com- 
mencement of the New Dispensation, and one as 
most befitting that significantly denominated the 
Dispensation of the Spirit. But to return: were we 
to take the words just as we read them, — ^^ Jesus 
himself baptized not, but his disciples," — then are 
we led to conclude that the disciples of Christ 
baptized, but Christ himself baptized none. This 
passage, however, is rendered, by the Rev. G. 
Jackson, thus, — << Though, truly, Jesus himself 
baptized none except his disciples." This render- 
ing of the passage undoubtedly agrees well with 
John iii. 22. Admitting this to be a correct render- 
ing of the words before us, I then ask, — Would Jesus 
baptize in his own name ? 1 think not. Or, if 
we conclude that Christ did not baptize, but that 
his disciples did ; in what name, I ask, did they bap- 



28 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

tize ? The form of words to be used in baptizing, 
are as follows : — " In the name of the Father^ and 
of the Son^ and of the Holy Ghost.^^ This 

not given till the resurrection from the dead 

Matt, xxviii. 19. 

S. Did the Apostles act on this commission, 
and baptize in this name ? 

T. As men of God they were faithful to the 
solemn charge. 

S. Will you inform me where we find any ac- 
count of their baptizing after they received that 
commission ? 

T. You will find the information you want in 
the record of their acts. 

S. Did they resort to rivers to perform the 
ordinance ? 

T. Not at all times : for you will find, by a 
careful perusal of the book of Acts, that they bap- 
tized wherever most convenient ; sometimes in the 
open air, and at other times in private houses. 

S. Can you refer me to any particular passage 
that bears upon this point ? 

T. Yes ; in Act ix. 18, we have an account of 
the baptism of Saul of Tarsus, — here it is simply 
stated that he arose and was baptized ; but all is 
as silent as the grave, as to any concourse of peo- 
ple going along to see this once great opposer, but 
now meek convert to the Christian faith, immersed 
in some well known river or pond. The ordi- 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 29 

nance, you see, was administered wherever they 
worshipped ; and, in this, the Apostles acted under 
the law of necessity. Let it be noted here, that 
there were then no Christian places of worship 
erected and set apart for the service of God, — had 
there been such, it is not at all likely that they 
would have left these to perform, elsewhere, the 
sacred rite. 

S. Can you inform me where Ananias bap- 
tized Saul of Tarsus ? 

T. The information you want will be found in 
Acts ix. 11 and 17. There you learn, thrt Saul, 
afterwards the great Apostle of the Gentiles, was 
baptized in the house of one Judas. 

S. Have we any other account of private bap- 
tism, or of baptism in a private house ? 

T. In Acts X. 47, 48, we have an account of 
Cornelius and his family, in their own house, 
receiving baptism. And what place so suitable as 
the place where they received the baptism of the 
Spirit? ^^Can any man," said the Apostle, 
''forbid water, (Xo be brought), that these should 
not be baptized ?" *' And he commanded them," 
as it appears, there and then^ '^ to be baptized in 
the name of the Lord." << Then prayed they him 
to tarry certain days." 

S. I feel the subject still more interesting as 
you advance, and must say, I never, till now, saw 
the Scriptures so plain upon this point. 
3* 



30 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

T. Glad am I, indeed, to find that you are still 
becoming more strongly established in the truth of 
the doctrine I have advanced, and can assure 3^ou 
that if all young persons were so established, it 
would tend to prevent much of that mischief which 
is the mere result of a party-proselyting zeal. 

S. I should hke to know if there is, on the 
record, any other account of baptism being per- 
formed in private dwellings? 

T. We learn, ('Acts xvi. 32, 33,) that a case of 
this kind took place at Philippi. This passage in- 
forms us that the jailer and his family were bap- 
tized by the Apostles in his own private residence. 
'' And they speak unto him the word of the Lord, 
and to all that were in the house." '< And he took 
them the same hour of the nighty and washed 
their stripes ; and was baptized, he and all his, 
STRAIGHT WAY." Prejudiced, indeed, must 
the mind be, that is not convinced by truth so clear 
and plain. 

S. Having, so far, given me full satisfaction, 
permit me here to inquire, — Does not the expres- 
sion — -^ Buried with Christ in baptism," — refer to 
the mode ? — if so, can it have reference to any ex- 
cept that of immersion } 

T. Let us then examine the passage where 
the term occurs. The first place in which we find 
it is, Rom. vi. 4. Its parallel in Col. ii. 12. That 
both these passages refer to the baptism of the 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 31 

Spirit, is clear from the connection in which they 
stand. The chapter from which the first of these 
texts is taken commences with a question containing 
a popular objection, frequently brought to bear 
against the doctrine of salvation by grace. ^^ What 
shall we then say ? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound ?" As if the Apostle had 
asked — ^^ Is this the conclusion of your minds as 
to the doctrine of abounding grace ?" This objec- 
tion, in the course of his argument, he fully meets ; 
and from the second to the sixth verse inclusive he 
brings forward five figures to illustrate the great 
subject of spiritual baptism. The first figure em- 
ployed is death, — ^^How shall we that are dead 
to sin, Hve any longer therein?" (verse 2d.") 
*' Know ye not, that so many of us as were bap- 
tized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his 
death." (verse Sd.') Can the Apostle, in these 
passages, refer to the outer man? Certainly not ; 
for the body, at least, in Christian lands, is never 
buried until life becomes extinct, — hence, he mani- 
festly refers to the death of the old man — " the body 
of sin," (verse 6th.) We now come to the question 
— What is buried into Christ's death ? Is it this 
corporeal frame ? No ! it is that which becomes 

actually dead, '^ the body of sin.'' ^ The moment 

we entertain the thought, that all that of which 
the Apostle speaks in this connection, is effected by 
the apphcation of water to the body, or the body 



32 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



to water, we are, so far, prepared to embrace the 
Papistical doctrine of baptismal regeneration. 
Again, could we suppose that the word buried 
conveys the idea of immersion, and that the term 
baptism also means the same, then do we put into 
the mouth of the Apostle the following tautology, 

'* Therefore we are immersed with him by zm- 

mersionmiohis death." The third figure brought 
forward is that of the resurrection^^" That Hke 
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the 
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk 
in newness of life." (verse 4th.) As if the Apostle 
had said. We, who by the baptism of the Spirit 
have the body of sin buried in the grave of Christ, 
and having risen with him, must also, by a holy 
life and conversation, evidence that spiritual resur- 
rection. As the body of Christ, which was made 
in the likeness of sinful flesh, lay in the grave, and 
rose again — leaving that mortal state — so, likewise 
the soul of the believer that was buried in sin, 
having that destroyed by which it was held in bond- 
age, rises to sit with Christ in heavenly places. 
The fourth figure is taken from husbandry, ^' For 
as we have been planted together in the likeness 
of his death, we shall also in the likeness of his 
resurrection." The seed that is put into the earth 
derives therefrom all that nourishment necessary 
for its growth, expansion, strength, and fruitfulness. 
To follow out the figure, we say, that the death 



II 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 83 

of Christ is the soil, in which, by the baptism of 
the Spirit, all true believers are planted, and from 
which, all their moral fruitfulness and beauty- 
spring. The fifth figure brought forward is 
crucifixion, — " Knowing this, that the old man is 
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be 
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." 
It was on the cross that Jesus voluntarily expired, 
— had he not done so — who could have had power 
to take his hfe ? Hear his own words, — '' I have 
power to lay down my life and I have power to 
take it again." In his obedience unto death, — 
the death of the cross, — he submissively bowed to 
the will of his heavenly Father, — '' Not my will,'' 
he says, ^' but thine be done." '' In the volume 
of the Book it is written," of Christ, ^^a body 
hast thou prepared me," — which body, as it is 
here intimated, it was the Father's will should be 
crucified. We have brought into the world with 
us a body of sin, which, having grown with our 
growth, it is the will of God should be crucified, 
or put to death. Christ, as we have seen, volun- 
tarily submitted to die ; and so must we submit to 
have ^<the old man" crucified, or otherwise go 
with all our members to perdition. Nothing, 
remember, but the baptism of the Spirit will prove 
saving. 

S, I see clearly that St. Paul could not have 
said all this in reference to a baptism which he 



34 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

thanked God he had not administered, except to a 
few. 

T. Your views in this respect are very correct ; 
and to me it is evident that any attempt to apply, 
in any other way, the different figures employed 
by the Apostle in the passages before us, would 
be unnatural and forced, and would, in the nature 
of things, tend to destroy the whole strength of his 
argument. But admitting that the Apostle, in the 
verses referred to, (Rom. vi. 2"6,\ speaks of the 
baptism of the Spirit, upon which he lays the 
greatest stress, his reasoning will then have its 
usual force, and will teach us this important truth ; 
viz., that by this baptism we are crucified, dead^ 
buried, planted and raised with Christ, Can all 
this, then, be effectedhy water? Revelation alone, 
as we have seen, can decide the question. 

S. Did you not speak of another passage of 
Scripture, where the term buried is employed in 
connection with the word baptism ? 

T. Yes ; but as the Apostle speaks of other 
figures in that connection, I will therefore call your 
attention to the whole as they come in order. 
These you will find in Col. ii. 11, 12. The 
figures here employed are, circumcision, burial, and 
resurrection. That the first of these figures refers 
to the baptism of the Spirit, is plain from the state- 
ment of the Apostle — " A circumcision made with- 
out hands, m the putting off the body of the sins of 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 35 

the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." The second 
and third figures apply to the same spiritual change 
of which we have spoken, — << Buried with him in 
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him 
THROUGH THE FAITH OF THE OPERA- 
TION OF GOD,"— Not with the hands of 
human administrators. 

S. Does not the word buried^ when taken in 
connection with the term baptism, lead to the idea 
of immersion? 

T. The figure of speech before us, I rather 
think, has led some, especially through the in- 
fluence of others, to this conclusion ; but let such, 
with a mind open to conviction, simply ask the 
question, — Does the Apostle speak of the body of 
flesh and bones being buried.^ — or of the <^^old 
"man," which is crucified with Christ ? — and thus 
in the association of ideas, the mode of immersion 
cannot rush to the mind. 

S. I perceive that whosoever would maintain, 
that the passage just quoted refers to the mere 
passing of the body under the water, must come to 
the absurd conclusion, that the submerged body is 
raised " through the faith of the operation of God." 

T. Just so ; the premiss can lead to no other 
conclusion. But as some one may inquire — Is 
there no reference, in the text, to a particular mode 
of burial ? To this we reply that ^' the Bible is 
intended to be understood alike by all nations. All 



36 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

do not bury alike. Some inter, some burn, some 
embalm. Some deposite in vaults, some hang up 
the body until the flesh decays. But not one 
buries by forcing the body through the element — 
not one resembles the mode, the way of immersion 
— not one the death of Christ. — It was a death on 
a mount, which took place when elevated, on 
a cross — and our baptism is into the likeness of 
his death. A death for and unto sin." 

S. As the Apostle has used the word circum- 
cision in other parts of his writings, and as you 
have not said much upon the subject, I should like, 
if agreeable, to hear you somewhat enlarge upon 
it. 

T. You may be sure, my young friend, it will 
afford me much pleasure to give you, on this, or 
any other subject, what information I can. You 
have then already seen, in the passage before us, 
that we are presented with a circumcision and bap- 
tism glorious and all powerful in their results. 

S. But have not some affirmed that circumcision 
was intended merely as a bage of national distinc- 
tion? 

T. Yes ; the love of opinion and a determination 
to support a cause, have led some, even men of 
learning and piety, to express themselves so ; but it 
is quite evident that the Apostle in this passage and 
the Holy Spirit under whose inspiration he wrote, 
were of a different mind. That the circumcision 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 37 

spoken of in this passage is spiritual we can have 
no doubt : for it was by this last the Colossian 
Christians were quickened into spiritual life — so 
the Apostle informed them, and we ought not to 
understand it in a different sense, — " You, being 
dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your 
flesh, hath he quickened, ^^ Let it be understood 
that these believing Gentiles were not circumcised 
in the flesh — on this we presume — forasmuch as 
that external rite had then ceased, and baptism had 
then been appointed in its stead ; but the circum- 
cision, by which they were renovated, was " the 
circumcision of Christ," '' made without hands.^' 

S. I should like to be a httle better informed 
respecting the pecuhar expression — '^ circumcision 
of Christ ?" 

T. It is w^ell, as much as possible, to under- 
stand the phraseology of Scripture, on this subject. 
The term, then, under consideration, must either 
refer to the circumcision that Christ received, when 
but eight days old — (Luke ii. 21;) or one which 
Christ as Head of the Church appointed to take 
place. That it refers to the external rite that 
Christ received in infancy, no one can rationally 
suppose ; for it is a circumcision ^^ made without 
hands." It follows then that the circumcision 
spoken of is one that Christ himself appointed ; 
and as all his appointments belong to the New 
Testament dispensation — those of the Old Testa- 
4 



38 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

ment having been made by the Father — it is, there- 
fore, with great propriety that it is called '^-the 
circumcision of Christ.''^ 

S. If such is the meaning of the term circum- 
cision in this connection — what does the Apostle 
mean by the term ^* of baptism" in the passage ? 

T. Though we have already touched upon this 
subject, it will, notwithstanding, still afford me 
pleasure to meet, as far as possible, your lawful 
wishes. An answer to your question will be found 
in the words which we have, as you will recollect, 
explained when speaking onCol. ii. 12; and which, 
with its parallel, forms a kind of rallying point for 
immersionists. In this verse we find a baptism of 
the Spirit answering to the circumcision made 
without hands, — an inward circumcision and an 
inward baptism, — a baptism by which a Christian 
rises " by the faith of the operation of God." Can 
you then, my young friend, or any one bearing the 
Christian name, even imagine, that all this means 
nothing more than the body rising out of the water ? 
Would not this, with a witness, confound " the 
faith of the operation of God" with the feeble hands 
of those who are weak enough to think that they 
fulfill all righteousness by submerging the body of 
the candidate in the watery element and raising it 
up again ! May the God of salvation and truth 
save us, and all '^ that love the Lord Jesus Christ 
in sincerity," from such a dangerous mode of in- 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 39 

terpretation ! — a mode which manifestly explains 
away the mind of the Holy Ghost in the passage, 
and which proclaims a recklessness of consequences 
which beggars all description ! ! That the bap- 
tism and circumcision in the passage before us is 
one — decidedly one, and the same — is quite evident 
from the fact that they stand immediately connected, 
— they are attended with the same saving results 
— and the circumcision is called, as we have seen, 
" the circumcision of Christ, ^^ 

S. Did Christ appoint baptism to symbohze the 
work of the Holy Spirit ? 

T. Yes ; and, be it known, that he appointed 
no other to represent, under the New Dispensation, 
THAT GREAT WORK. It is, then, as *^ clear 
as light, and as certain as truth" — that " the cir- 
cumcision of Christ" is BAPTISM. You will 
now perceive that the Apostle, in the passage, 
designed not only to connect baptism and circum- 
cision as outward and visible signs of the same 
^^ invisible and glorious moral renovation ;" but also 
to show, that baptism under the Christian dispen- 
sation is intended to answer to circumcision under 
the Mosaic dispensation. And now I feel con- 
strained to say — let any one, who would attempt 
to set aside this manifest design of the Apostle, 
show, if he can, what we are to understand by 
'i THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST." And 
let it be well observed that the term ''buried," m 



40 CONVERSATIONS 0?^ THE 

this connection, as a figure, '^ merely refers to the 
disposing of the dead body by performing the 
rites of sepuhure," without selecting any one of the 
various modes of performing it as practised by the 
different nations of the earth. These different 
modes we have already spoken of. But the body 
referred to, — this we have seen, in speaking on 
Rom. vi. 4-6, — is '' the body of the sins of the 
fleshy Doubtless you are now fully convinced, 
as all indeed must be who take the same rational 
way of making themselves acquainted with the 
meaning of the Holy Spirit in the passage, — 
that BAPTISM is "' the CIRCUMCISION OF 
CHRIST," — that both are spiritual — the one 
GREAT WORK OF THE SpiRiT. On circumcisioH — 
see Rom. ii. 29. On baptism — 1 Cor. xii. 18. 

S. From w^hat has been said, I see that bap- 
tism has been appointed in the room of circum- 
cision, — that when baptism was appointed, the obli- 
gation to observe circumcision, as an outward rite, 
then ceased, — and that baptism, therefore, by the 
Apostle, is called the '' circumcision of Christ." 

T. In this you are perfectly correct. The in- 
telhgent reader of the Scriptures, either of the Old 
or New Testament, knows that frequently the sym- 
bol is put for the substance, and the substance for 
the symbol, — hence, as we have seen, the Spirit's 
work is called circumcision — the name of the initia- 
tory rite of the Old Dispensation ; and again, by the 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 41' 

term baptism, the initiatory rite of the New Dis- 
pensntion, the same thing is symbolized. 

S. If my views are correct, and if I have not 
misunderstood what you have designed to convey 
to my mind upon this interesting subject, there is, 
as appears to me, great wisdom displayed in the 
selection of the symbols of both dispensations, 
which are so very significant and expressive of the 
end designed. 

T. My young friend, the appointed rites of 
both dispensations are well calculated to symbolize 
what God, in his infinite wisdom designed ; and we 
say also, <^that the beautiful symmetry of the 
economy of Redemption is a§ fully preserved and 
developed by the symbols appointed under the 
New Testament dispensation as by those under the 
Cld. Man is both guilty and polluted* His guilt 
must be pardoned, and his soul must be purified, 
or he must everlastingly perish. The blood of 
Christ alone can remove the guilt of sin ; and the 
Spirit of God alone can remove its pollution, and 
subdue its reigning power. Consequently the 
Atonement of Christ, and the regenerating influence 
of the Spirit, are alike indispensable in the work of 
man's salvation. Both these essential facts were 
particularly symbolized by the two sacraments of 
the Old Testament. 

S. From the manifest beautiful agreement and 
fitness of things presented to my mind I see that 
4* 



42 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

the whole of the arrangement must be divine, — 
that the, Passover, as applied by the Apostle him- 
self, pointed to the sacrifice of the cross — "Christ 
our Passover, &c. ;'^ that Circumcision pointed to 
the soul's new creation by the Holy Spirit, to 
which that term, as has been noticed, is appHed 
by the same Apostle, and called the circumcision 
of Christ, " made without hands ;" that the Lord's 
Supper, under the Gospel dispensation, likewise 
points to Calvary, and is designed, according to his 
ow^n words, '<- To show forth his death till he eome^'^ 
— while the baptismal water, whether applied by 
pouring, or sprinkKng, scripturally points to the 
active or cleansing influences of the Spirit, as he 
comes dow^n and sits as a refining fire upon the 
beheving soul. 

T. It must indeed be very gratifying to your 
parents and instructors to know that you have such 
perceptive powers as to see the great symmetry and 
beauty of revealed truth, which, to a mind like 
yours, must be, — bearing, as it manifestly does, 
heaven's broad impress, — demonstrative evidence 
of its Divine origin. 

S. I perceive that were we to admit that bap- 
tism, — be the mode what it may, — represents the 
burial and resurrection of Christ, we destroy at 
once that beautiful order and fitness of things 
which we have viewed as bearing the Divine im- 
press, and leave — under a dispensation emphati- 



' MODE OF BAPTISM. 43' 

cally his own — the active and cleansing operations 
of the Spirit without a symbol in the Church. 

T. Entertaining as you do, such correct views, 
I will here inquire, — Would the Allwise God ap- 
point no symbol to represent that which, according 
to Christ's own judgment upon the subject, would 
be more precious and consohtary to the Church 
than his bodily presence could be, — the presence 
and work of the Spirit ? — or if he did appoint any 
ordinance, — and we know he did, — would he ap- 
point one, in its own nature, far less impressive to 
the enhghtened mind, and infinitely less expressive 
of that wisdom which is manifested in the beautiful 
order and fitness which we have viewed as heaven's 
own impress on the very face of an ordinance of 
heaven's own appointment ? Is it reasonable to 
suppose this ? Is it credible to believe it ? Again, 
if the Spirit's work under the former dispensation 
was worthy of a sign and seal, — what are we to 
say of the fullness of his blessing under a dispen- 
sation, as you have properly expressed it, emphati- 
cally his own ? Surely ! surely ! ! the fuller and 
brighter beams, and deeper and broader tide, of 
blessed influences under the Gospel are not left 
without a proper sign and seal ! ! ! To admit 
such a thing is to blot out the Divine impress which 
we have recognized, and to break off the index 
finger which points to the chief efficient agency 
employed in man's Salvation ; and in fact, the only 



44 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

agency that makes the great provisions of the ever- 
lasting covenant of Jehovah's mercy, available and 
sure. And shall we do all this ? O ! my soul ! 
my soul ! ! — just think of it ! — to turn away our 
admiring eyes from the bright firmament of Gos- 
pel truth, and a seek refuge in a watery grave J J /" 

S. Has it not been frequently asserted, that 
the watery grave is highly symbohcal and admoni- 
tory ? 

T. Yes ; the watery grave has been repre- 
sented as symbolical and admonitory of the burial 
and resurrection of Christ ; but in reference to this, 
I would simply state, that the Christian Church has 
a weekly memorial, in the regular return of the 
Holy Sabbath, of the resurrection of Christ. As 
to his burial, you know that, that was no part of 
his work of obedience or suffering. Can any then 
be so entirely lost to sense or truth, as to suppose 
that the unavailing act of Joseph of Arimathea in 
disposing of the dead body of Jesus, was more 
worthy of a significant sign, than the soul-renewing 
and sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost ! Be- 
lieve me, my young friend, the workings of man's 
imaginings upon this, as upon other subjects, may 
throw the appearance of light around your path ; 
but that, like an ignis fatuus, will, if followed, only 
tend to lead you astray ; while the steady unwaver- 
ing hght of the Gospel sun, will direct thy feet in 
the straight course of changeless truth. The mo- 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 45'^ 

merit then we admit that the baptismal water is the 
Spirit's symbol, ^^the Gospel equilibrium is re- 
stored." Thank God ! for truth ! — pure heaven- 
born truth ! ! 

S. Having given me full satisfaction in proving 
the fact, — that the terms we have just considered 
were applied by the Apostle to the Spirit's work, — 
I w^ould inquire, — of what baptism does he speak, 
when he tells us — '" There is one Lord, one faith, 
ONE BAPTISM ?" 

T. In this passage, which you will find in Eph. 
iv. 5, the Apostle, doubtless, refers here also to the 
work of the Holy Ghost, in the heart of the true 
believer. Could the Apostle, — having the fact in 
view, that there are different kinds of baptism 
spoken of in the New Testament, — mean to say, 
or mean others to understand, that there is, in every 
sense of the word, but one baptism ? Certainly, 
he could not. But that he intended by the expres- 
sion, to teach that there is but one saving in its 
nature, we can have no doubt. ^' One Lord, i. e, 
ONE LIVING AND TRUE GoD, — yet lords many ; — 
<i one faith''' — one living, saving faith, yet dif- 
ferent kinds of faith, — the dead faith of both devils 
and men (James ii. 19;) — ''One baptism,''^ — one 
SAVING BAPTISM, yet baptisms many, — the baptism 
of water, the baptism of the Spirit, and the baptism 
of suffering. With this, we shall take in con- 
nection the words of John, — '^/, mdieedi, baptize 



46 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

you with water ; He that cometh after me, shall 
baptize you ivith the Holy Ghost,''' — and then in- 
quire — to which of these baptisms could St. Paul 
refer when he said, — " One baptism ?" Could he 
pass by the baptism, of Christ, — a baptism by the 
Holy Ghost, — the one to which John directed the 
attention of his disciples, and fix upon John's in- 
ferior one ? — or could he even refer to what Christ 
commanded his disciples to administer ? We shall 
hear the Apostle himself upon the subject, — ^^For 
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.^^ — 
1 Cor. xii. 13. 

S. Does not the same Apostle say, — ^<^I would 
not that ye should be ignorant how that all our 
fathers were under the cloud, and that all passed 
through the sea ?" — 1 Cor. x. 1 — 3. 

T. Yes ; and 1 think the words which you have 
so correctly quoted, will make much in favor of 
the doctrine we have been advocating. 

S. If I mistake not, some bring forward this very 
passage in favor of immersion. 

T. Frequently has it been dragged in for this 
purpose ; but, like many other texts which have 
been so treated, has failed to accomplish the end 
for which it has been thus applied. Now, before 
it can answer this object, two things must be 
proved, — first, that to pass over a river dry shod, 
is to be immersed in it ; — secondly, that the re- 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 17 

moval of the cloud from the front to the rear of the 
Israelitish army is expressive of that mode. 

S. Is there anything in this passage to support 
the mode of our choice, — pouring, or sprinkling ? 

T. From what Moses has said on the subject, 
and as quoted by St. Paul, we have no positive 
proof that that baptism was by sprinkling, or pour- 
ing, at least it is not so written ; yet the statements 
made by the inspired writer, are all against im- 
mersion, and in favor of the former mode. But 
what Moses has omitted in the particulars relating 
to Israel's passage through the sea, Asaph, in 
Ps. Ixxvii. has given us in detail, — ^^ The waters 
saw thee, O God ; the waters saw thee ; they were 
afraid ; the depths also were troubled, the clouds 
poured out water ; the skies sent out a sound. 
Thine arrows also went abroad ; the voice of thy 
thunder was in the heaven ; the lightnings lightened 
the world ; the earth trembled and shook. Thy way 
was in the sea, and thy path in the great waters ; 
and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leadest 
thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and 
Aaron." Here, then, we have the very mode of 
the baptism spoken of by St. Paul broivght before 
us. From this particular account we learn, that 
while the Israelites passed through the sea, " the 
clouds poured out water,^'* This, you perceive, 
justifies the Apostle in the declaration, — uAnd 
were all baptized in," — properly rendered, by, — 



48 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

ii the cloud, and in the sea." This leads us to 
consider two things. — First, the local situation of 
the Israelites at that time, — the bed of the sea. — 
Secondly, the means by which they were bap- 
tized when in that situation, — '^ The clouds poured 
out watery 

S. Does not St. Paul tell us that we are saved 
by baptism, as Noah and his family were saved by 
water ? 

T. There is something similar to what you say 
in 1 Pet. iii. 21, — '' The like figure whereunto even 
baptism doth also now save us, mot the putting 
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a 
good conscience towards God,) by the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ." From the phraseology here em- 
ployed, it is plain that the Apostle's intention was 
to teach the design, and not the mode of baptism. 
But were we to admit that it refers to the mode, 
then it is plain that that mode cannot be immer- 
sion. '' The ark was not immersed in the water ; 
-had it been, they must all have perished ; but it 
was borne upon the water, and sprinkled with the 
rain that fell from heaven." The Apostle having 
declared that Noah and his family were " saved by 
water^'^ (verse 20,) goes on to state, — '^ The like 
figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save 
us." By this we are informed that Noah's tem- 
poral deliverance by water was a figure of some 
other salvation, — salvation by Christ. Noah, we 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 49 

see then, was saved. — But from what? He was 
saved, not only from the grief of listening to the 
^^ hard speeches" of the infidels of his day, as. well 
as that which resulted from beholding "^ their un- 
lawful deeds ;" but, above all, — they having, most 
likely, as hardened sinners, premeditated his death, 
— he was saved by water, from their murderous 
designs. We learn, then, from this passage that 
that which was the means of their destruction was 
the means of his salvation ; but let it be observed 
that though, in the destruction of the one, and 
the baptism of the other, the element employed 
was the same, the modes were widely different. 
The enemies of Noah, as we have seen, were de- 
stroyed by being immersed in the general flood ; 
but had Noah been immersed with the rest, with 
them he must have perished. — This, you know, 
was not the case, — *' The ark was borne upon the 
water," while the clouds poured out, in copious 
showers, their full contents. Can we then suppose 
that the All wise God would have baptism so admin- 
istered as to be a mere figure of destruction, but 
not of salvation ? — or that he would appoint such a 
mode to be observed by his Church as is not only 
very inconvenient, but sadly defective, forasmuch 
as it does not represent the active and cleansing 
influences of the Holy Ghost, which it was designed 
as a standing ordinance, under the Gospel dispensa- 
tion, to symbolize ? 

5 



50 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

S. Jf plainly see that this would not well accord 
with the words of St, Peter which you have quoted, 
and which represent baptism as a figure of sal- 
vation. 

T. It affords me much pleasure to know that 
you perceive the ^reat impropriety — if not impiety 
— of administering the ordinance in a way, to say 
the least, that will not harmonize with the words of 
the Apostle on the subject, especially so, when 
taken in the connection in which he has placed 
them, — <<The like Jigure,^^—YefeYv'mg to Noah's 
deliverance as a figure of salvation, — ^^ whereunto 
even baptism doth also now save us." The 
Apostle, you will observe, in these words, speaks 
of two figures, — the first is Noah's baptism in the 
ark — a baptism which was a figure of salvation by 
Christ. — The second is Christian baptism, which is 
represented as a figure Hke unto the former. — 
" The like Jigure, whereunto even haptis7n doth 
also now save us ;" ^. e., as a figure of the very 
same, — salvation by Christ — which Noah's tem- 
poral deliverance symbolized. We are then, as 
you see, justified in saying, that ^^ it is an outward 
and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace." — 
And let it never be forofotten that this inward o-race 
— the thing typified — leads to righteousness of life — 
to the keeping of our garments unspotted from the 
flesh, and has its natural concomitant, — that which 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 51 

no application of water can give, — <^ The answer of 
a good conscience,'^^ 

It is now, my young friend, to be hoped, — having 
so far gone through the principal texts that relate to 
the mode of baptism, — that you are immovably 
fixed, in relation to this, as well as all other Chris- 
tian doctrines, on the firm basis of Gospel truth. 

S. If I can judge of the deep convictions of my 
own mind, as to the mode of baptism, which have 
put all doubts to flight, I can, at least, say — that 
the various arts of sophistry and trickery which 
have too often disturbed the weak and uninformed, 
shall, I trust, never shake my faith. 

T. Glad am I to listen to the tone of firmness, 
with which you express your sentiments, and do 
hope that the mere ebuUition of the passions may 
never gain the ascendency over your enlightened 
judgment. 

S. I can assure you that I never wish to have 
my passions excited upon this subject, especially by 
any dogmatical assertions that may be made to vin- 
dicate a mode which manifestly sins by defect ; and 
do beheve, that I never shall, as long as I rely upon 
the truth of the doctrine advanced by St. Paul in 
these words ; — '' For in Christ Jt sus neither aV- 
cumdsion availeth anything, nor uncirciimcision, 
but a NEW CREATURE." " And as many as 
walk by this rule, peace be on them, and mercy ^ 
and upon the Israel of God,'^ — Gal. vi. 15, 16. 



52 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

T. It is highly gratifying to find that you are 
so well acquainted with the Scriptures, and that you 
discern, as appears, from the passage you have 
quoted, where the Apostle has laid the only stress, 
I would, with all my heart, advise you to abide by 
this, and then, most assuredly, you shall share in 
the peace and mercy, which the Apostle prays 
may rest upon those who are so characterized. As 
long as this principle is deeply engraven in your 
heart and kept before your mind, there is no fear of 
your being drawn away by those who foohshly spend 
a great portion of their precious time in attempts to 
prove that it is necessary that they should put your 
body under some water ; to you, in such a case, the 
whole, — and we trust the time is not far distant when 
it will be so with all, — will pass off in mere empty 
evaporation. 

Think again of the fundamental principle brought 
forward by the Apostle, — u For in Christ Jesus 
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncir- 
cumcision, but a new creature." This principle 
then, we presume, is designed to have its practical 
influence on the members of the Church, and if it 
has an influence as great as the subject itself de- 
mands, the members who act under that influence, 
far from spending their zeal in support of non-es- 
sentials, « will spend, and be spent," for the main- 
tenance and universal influence of the great doc- 
trine advanced by St. Paul. — ii Neither circum- 



% 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 53 

cision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a 
NEW CREATURE." The great Apostle of the 
Gentiles had a much better method of teaching than 
many in this, our day, have ; he saAv what, in doc- 
trine, was most important, and to that he gave promi- 
nence in his discourses. Of this, as a truth, the 
words just noticed, are full in proof; hence it fol- 
lows, that they who live according to the doctrine 
taught in the passage are Christians of the primitive 
stamp, and must, consequently, enjoy the rich bless- 
ing the Apostle speaks of as connected with, and 
inseparable from the experience of all who '^ wor- 
ship God in the Spirit, and have no confidence in 
the flesh." — ^' As many then," he goes on to say, 
'' as walk according to this rule," — mark ! — not as 
many as are led by mere excitement ; but as many 
as cordially embrace the doctrine as contained in the 
unalterable law of admission into the Kingdom of 
God, or Church of Christ on earth, and with which 
the words of St. Paul, of which we have spoken, 
are in perfect accordance, — ^< Except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God," — 
<^ peace shall be on them," &c. 

You have learned from what has been advanced 
in the preceding pages, that John's baptism was ad- 
ministered under the law, — before the ceremonial 
was abolished, — but that the Christian was not in- 
stituted till after John was no longer a probationer 
on earth, and Christ arose from the dead. The 
5* 



54 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

Apostles, as you, probably, have observed, went 
forth and acted upon the commission they had 
received from Christ. When that commission was 
given, the heathen world lay before them, and into 
it they entered, baptizing all that believed the truth 
they were commissioned to proclaim, — that turned 
from their gods many to the one living and true 
God. These they formed into proper organized 
churches ; and to these, in their absence, they di- 
rected a series of letters, or what are called epistles, 
in which — be it well remarked — they scarcely no- 
tice, and never dwell upon the subject of water bap- 
tism, while that of the Spirit is never lost sight of. 
The reason is obvious — they had to leave space suf- 
ficient to give prominence to the more important mat- 
ter ; and it must forcibly strike you that the example 
of some calling themselves Gospel ministers, forms, to 
that of the Apostles, a striking contrast. You should 
understand that the Visible Church has been erected 
for the express purpose that there, in the use of 
divinely appointed means, souls may be converted 
to God. Into this, as a school, by being baptized 
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost, both old and young were to be 
admitted, and there taught in all the fundamental 
principles of saving truth, — u Teaching them to ob- 
serve all things^ whatsoever I have commanded you ^ 
This, then, being once done, the Apostle could not 
find it necessary to harp continually upon the sub- 



i 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 55 

ject of water baptism ; but from a love to, and care 
for the souls of men, they felt it to be their duty to 
enforce upon the initiated, as well as upon all, the 
necessity of the Spirit's baptism, in order to an en- 
trance into what may be called the inward spiritual 
church, or to their becoming u living stones, built up 
a spiritual temple, an holy habitation of God through 
the Spirit." 

You will remember that we have spoken of the 
baptismal water as being designed to represent the 
great work of the Spirit ; while the bread and wine 
in the Christian Eucharist, is to symbolize the broken 
body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. You 
have seen that the baptism which is without hands, 
is by an out-pouring, or descent of the Spirit ; but 
as you have had, in the preceding pages, only a few 
of the Scriptural expressions confirmatory of that 
truth, I will here present you with a few more in 
order.— ^^ SENT FROM ON HIGH," Luke xxiv. 
29. ^^ DESCENDING," John i. 32. «^ COMING 
UPON THEM," Acts ii. 8. " POUR OUT," Acts 
ii.l7. <^^ SHED FORTH," Actsii. 33. ^^ FALLEN 
UPON," Acts viii. 16. " FELL ON," Acts x. 44. 
'' CAME ON," Acts xix. 6. If it is as here repre- 
sented, that the soul, by the Holy Spirit, is bap- 
tized, and enters the inward or Spiritual Church— ^ 
is it not more reasonable to suppose that the out- 
ward baptism, by which we enter the outer 
court, should represent the thing intended to be 



56 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

symbolized, than that it should, as a divinely insti- 
tuted rite, contradict it? Most assuredly it is ; and 
if you understand these things aright, it is not at all 
likely that your mind will be disturbed by the foolish- 
ness of men, who might be much better employed 
than by going about, as they do, to lead the simple 
from the sound principles of truth, to what, in reality, 
is no better, for the benefit of youth, than "old wives 
fables." What can we think of the individual who 
has no other object in view, in acting the part of the 
importunate widow, with those who have been 
sprinkled in the morning of life, than to prevail with 
them to be re-baptized — and so importunate too, as 
if they believed the whole of religion consisted in, 
what, to us, is manifestly discordant with the very 
thing the ordinance is intended to represent ? It 
may, however, be said that there is no re-baptism 
in such a case ; for the first baptism so-called, is no 
baptism. Well, indeed, is it for us that this unchari- 
table and unchurching tribunal is not the only stand- 
ard of judgment : for, we have had, and still can 
have a successful appeal to the standard of immut- 
able truth — the Revelation of God — the only living 
speaking tribunal from which, in matters of faith 
and religion, there is no appeal. Truth is mighty, 
and will prevail. 

S. It is objected that the term baptism, when 
applied to the work of the Spirit in the heart of the 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 57 

believer is used figuratively ; and that, therefore, 
the meaning of that term is not to be determined 
by its figurative use. Now, as our opponents 
would thus endeavor to get rid of the argument 
drawn from the analogous representation of the 
Spirit's baptism by the baptismal water, I wish, if 
still agreeable to you, to hear what can be said in 
reply. 

T. Just with as much pleasure, my young 
friend, as when you first expressed a desire to un- 
derstand the proper mode of water baptism, I will 
notice the objection of which you speak. It is 
well to consider the principal objections that anti- 
pedobaptists have raised against our mode, and to 
display their weakness in the hght of truth. 

The term figure, then, in theology, means a type, 
— hence when speaking of the baptism of water, — 
we say it is to typify, or represent, the baptism of 
the Spirit. Now, let it be well observed, that the 
figurative language of the New Testament in 
reference to the operations of the Spirit, such as 
f'^ filled with breathing, blowing, shining, anoint' 
ing, Sf'-cy — terms our opponents frequently quote 
to prove, if possible, that there can be no analogy 
between the baptism of the Spirit, and that of 
water, — is in perfect accordance with our views. 
The expression — ^^ filled with the Spirit,'^ does not 
only suppose the descent of the Spirit ; but also 
refers to the greater measure of his influence and 



58 CONTERSATIOXS OX THE 

grace to be enjoyed under his own peculiar dispen- 
sation : — ^^ Breathing'^ also supposes that the life- 
giving Spirit is come down to quicken and give 
life to the dead; — '' Blowing,''^ as a scriptural 
phrase, has reference to the mystery of his sensi- 
ble work on the believing soul. (John iii. 8.) 
^' Shining^' is a term that relates to his office as 
EnUghtener and not that of Sanctifier. And here, 
I would just say, the bread and wine in the Lord's 
Supper were not designed to represent all particu- 
lars respecting the death of Christ which took 
place upon the cross and elevated upon a mount, 
&c. ; but simply to prefigure his broken body and 
shed blood ; — so, hkewise, baptism b}^ sprinkling 
or pouring, is not designed to represent the Spirit's 
work of conviction, or enlightening, or even the 
mystery connected with it, to which the term 
*^ blowing" has reference; but especially is it 
designed, as has been shown, to point to his active 
operation and sanctifying influences. 

S. If I mistake not, you have omitted to say 
any thing upon the word — ^^ anoint, '^^ or ^« anoint- 
ing,^^ — Will you please, therefore, to show me 
how it is turned aside as a ground of objection 
against the analogy of which you speak ? 

T. In order to understand the thing as you 
ought, it is necessary that your attention be directed 
to that from which the figurative expression before 
us is taken. It has its literal application also,^ 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 59 

hence the Scriptures speak of an «^ holy anointing," 
(Exodus XXX. 80-33,) by which the priests were 
consecrated to the service of God. This anointing 
w^as performed by pouring the oil upon the head 
of the candidate. Now it is from this that the 
term ^^ anointing" is taken, when applied to the 
work of the Spirit upon the beheving soul, (1 John 
ii. 27,") and of course, the latter as well as the 
former is by an outpouring. You will have ob- 
served, that in all the figurative terms considered, 
— selected as they are by our opponents, — the 
Spirit is represented as active, and the question, 
therefore, at issue, turns on the mode, and so the 
point of resemblance is found in the descent, or 
application of water. 

S. I am satisfied, heartily satisfied ! with v/hat 
you have said and proved ; and feel settled in the 
behef that the Scriptures of truth fully bear us out 
in our views of the simple but significant ordinance 
of baptism. 

T. May you ever rest in such consistent and 
harmonious views of Gospel truth. By doing so, 
you can never be tempted to the sin or folly of 
being re-baptized. Being, then, as we are, intro- 
duced, by water baptism, into the Visible Church 
— what can be gained by a second introduction 
that is not and may not be enjoyed by the first ? 
To say the least, you may lose but cannot gain. 
By it " you come forth upon the world, not so much 



60 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

to make a covenant already made for you, with 
your parents, by your God and Saviour. Your 
language will be, — I do not believe that God made 
a covenant with my parents for me. But if he did, 
as we believe, you may put a stop to the blessings 
of that covenant and to the answers of the prayers 
made for you by pious parents and the Church at 
your baptism ; — prayers yet waiting to be fulfilled 
in blessings upon you and yours to many genera- 
tions." 

If then you have been baptized by sprinkling, 
or pouring, in the morning of life, or at a more 
advanced period, earnestly seek, if you have not 
yet received, the thing signified, — the baptism of 
the Spirit ; but if, by this, you are now a living 
stone in the spiritual temple, continually aspire 
after a greater measure of the varied fulness of 
Christ, that you may, with the ^* hundred and 
forty and four thousand," stand upon the great 
Mount Sion above. 

In speaking on the subject of baptism, you have, 
probably, observed a kind of climax, by which the 
soul rises, as to privilege and enjoyment, and by 
which is displayed before the mind, as a wise, 
beautiful, and benevolent arrangement, the wisdom 
and goodness of God. By the outward baptism 
we enter the outer court — by the inward baptism 
— that of the Spirit — the inner court ; and by the 
baptism of suffering, by which we put off ^< the 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 61 

outer man," we enter into the holy of holies — the 
place of glorious vision above. Be then faithful to 
the privileges you now enjoy, by having entered, 
through the baptismal water, the Visible Church, 
•and you will soon be let into communion with God, 
where, if constant and ardent in thy devotions, thy 
favored soul shall be so fully changed into the 
moral likeness of him with whom it communes, as 
to be meet, at length, '' for the inheritance of the 
saints in light." Amen. 



62 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



THE SUBJECTS. 

Scholar. Who are fit subjects for water bap- 
tism ? 

Teacher. Ml children of believers, as well as 
penitent adults, who have not been baptized, 

S. Is there any thing in the Scriptures to justify 
the admission of children to the ordinance ? 

T. Yes ; and by a candid appeal to the law 
and to the testimony, we justify the practice. 

S. I would like to hear what scriptures can be 
adduced in its support. 

T. It is right that you should express such a 
desire, and I will, therefore, in this respect, gratify 
you, by calling your attention to what the New 
Testament says upon the subject. The first pas- 
sage, to which I call you attention — one that forms 
a ground work for what may follow — you will find 
in Rom. v. 18, — '^ As by the offence of one judg- 
ment came upon all men to condemnation ; even 
so by the righteousness of one the free gift came 
upon all men unto justification of life." 

S. How does this text bear upon the subject, 
as there is no mention made of children in it .^ 

T. Very true ; in the passage, there is nothing 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 63 

expressly said of children ; yet they must be im- 
plied in it, or else they never came into con- 
demnation. The passage contains two propositions. 
The first is — <^ By the offence of one judgment 
came upon all men,^^ Here, I presume, it will he 
taken for granted, that children are included in the 
general condemnation, otherwise they are found in 
a state of perfect innocence, and are, therefore, — 
independent of the ^'free gift," of course, — legally 
justified, and are Jit for the kingdom of heaven. 
The second proposition reads thus, — " By the 
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all 
men unto justification of life,''^ There is, you per- 
ceive, no mention made of children in this, any 
more than m the former part of the sentence ; yet, 
who that beheves children to be included in the 
general condemnation, can suppose them to be 
excluded from all benefit in the general reconcilia- 
Hon of our species P If all children were virtually 
included in Adam after he fell, were they not 
federally related to Christ, through whom — to 
render their actual existence possible — Adam was 
reprieved? If infants are — before they have done 
good or evil — the purchase of the Saviour's blood, 
they are his ; if so they cannot belong to the world, 
nor its god ; if not, then they belong to the Church 
— the kingdom of God — and, therefore, ought to be 
admitted, and if admitted, they must be baptized. 
Our opponents are forced to admit this. '^ Let it 



64 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

be proved," says Dr. Gill, ^^ that infants are, or 
ought to be members of Gospel churches, and we 
are ready to admit them." 

S. Are there any other passages in favor of in- 
fant baptism ? 

T. Yes ; there are others equally strong. The 
first text we shall here notice is, (Acts ii. 89,) — 
<« For the promise is unto you and to your children^ 
and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the 
Lord our God shall call." Children, then, you see, 
are included in the promise. 

S. May I inquire to what promise does the 
Apostle, in the passage, refer ? 

T. It is right that you should be particular in 
your inquiries, and for your satisfaction I will just 
now say, that the Apostle, doubtless, had reference 
to the promise made to Abraham, /Acts iii. 25,") — 
<* Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the 
covenant which God made with our fathers, saying 
unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kin- 
dreds of the earth be blessed." (Gen. xvii. 7.) 
" And I will establish my covenant between me 
and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their genera- 
tions, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto 
thee, and to thy seed after thee." 

S. But though children are spoken of in Acts 
ii. 39, I find nothing of baptism there. 

T. True ; there is no mention made of baptism 
in the passage to which you have referred ; yet, by 



I 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. DD 

ti reference to the preceding verse, (S8\ you will 
find that is given as a reason why they should be 
baptized. Read the whole in the order in which 
it is presented, — ^' Then Peter said unto them, 
repent, and be baptized every one of you in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ;" — 
here, we have the reason, — '^ For the promise is 
unto you, and to your children," etc. 

S. Are we then to suppose that the Abrahamic 
covenant is still in force ? 

T. Undoubtedly we should so understand it; 
and were it otherwise, the Apostle would not have 
applied the promise that was made to Abraham, as 
belonging to those who were assembled at Jeru- 
salem, on the Day of Pentecost. ^^ The law," 
says the Apostle, '<• which was four hundred and 
thirty years after, cannot disannul that it should 
make the promise of none effect." — Gal. iii. 17. 
Can we then suppose that the Gospel, with its 
universal benevolence, which has succeeded, should 
ever be designed, by him who gave it, to revoke, 
or disannul the promises, which, for the spiritual 
benefit of children, preceded the law ? The great 
Apostle of the Gentiles speaks out his mind upon 
the subject. — «' The Scripture foreseeing that God 
would justify the heathen through faith, preached 
before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee 
shall all nations be blessed." — Gal. iii. 8. 



66 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

S. Could the persons addressed by St. Peter on 
the Day of Pentecost suppose that he called them 
and their children to receive the ordinance of bap- 
tism? 

T. Yes ; and, with them, it must have been 
more than a supposition ; at least, with the Jews 
and proselytes who were among that mixed assem- 
bly — these had been long in the habit of having 
their minds called to the promise to which the 
Apostle referred, and on the ground of which they 
recognized the children's right of admission, by 
circumcision, into the Church of God. Could St. 
Peter, then, have intended it to be understood, or 
the Jews assembled on that occasion received it in 
any other sense, when he addressed them by say- 
ing — «' The promise is unto you and to your 
CHILDREN !" It could uot be ! Did you ever 
know our Baptist brethren to address a congrega- 
tion in this way ? I think not ; and if they were to 
practice the thing — to show in this respect we are 
mistaken — it would not accord with their avowed 
principles. Mr. Edwards, in speaking of the Jews, 
says, ^^ If their practice of receiving infants was 
founded on a promise exactly similar, as it certainly 
was, how could they possibly have understood him, 
but as meaning the same thing since himself used 
the same mode of speech ? This must have been 
the case, unless we admit this absurdity, that they 
understood him in a sense to which they were 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 67 

never accustomed." In both places the ordinance 
is made to result from the promise — the one is set 
down as a reason for the other. — Gen. xvii. 9. 
<' Thou shalt keep my covenant^ therefore ;" that is, 
because God had given a promise. So here, 
'' Repent, and let every one of you^"* of yours, <' he 
baptized ;^'' for (because) the promise is to you and 
your children. From what has been thus advanced 
it is evident that infants are as fit subjects for bap- 
tism now, as they were formerly for circumcision ; 
otherwise, the Apostle is represented as devoid of 
common sense in saying ^< The promise is to yoijC^ 
whom I now, as adults, call to repentance, '^ there- 
fore, he baptized." The promise is not to you 
onl}^ hut also to your children, therefore, they 
must not be baptized. Now, to say the least, the 
Apostle could not, so illogically, come to such a 
conclusion. Here, then, we have not only no 
reason for excluding children from, but the very 
same reason, as that under the law, for their ad- 
mission into the Visible Church. 

S. I must confess, my former views upon this 
subject were rather confused, but now I understand 
it much better. 

T. Be thankful, my young friend, that your 
confused views, in this respect, have, by the light 
of truth, given place to such as are less confused ; 
for the better you understand the subject the more 
you will admire the goodness of God as manifested in 



68 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

his care for the children of our trust, whose juvenile 
state was represented, by the << child horvH^ and 
''Son given,^^ 

S. Are there any other passages that counte- 
nance the admission of children into the Visible 
Church? 

T. Yes ; in Luke xviii. 16, we read thus, — 
*' Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid 
them not ; for such is the kingdom of God," or as 
rendered by Dr. A. Clarke, — <^The kingdom of 
heaven is composed of such." That the children 
here spoken of were infants and not young con- 
verts is put, by the fifteenth verse, beyond all suc- 
cessful contradiction, — " And they brought unto 
him also infants." These then belong to the king- 
dom of Christ — THE CHURCH OF God ! 

S. I should hke to hear you speak a httle upon 
the term — '^ kingdom of God,^^ 

T. In complying with your, to me, pleasing 
request, I must necessarily be as brief as possible. 
The term, then, ^^ kingdom of God," as contained 
in the New Testament, is generally apphed in a 
two-fold sense — to the suffering church on earth, 
and the glorified church in heaven. It follows, 
therefore, that in one of these senses the term, 
in the passage before us, is applied : — If the former 
• — then it refers either to the outer, or inner court — 
the visible, or inward spiritual church. Should 
we say the visible^ then, doubtless, the children, 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 69' 

which Christ took up in his arms, had been already- 
admitted by circumcision, as Christ himself was, 
into the only Church of God then on earth. But if 
Jesus intended by the term — '' kingdom of God" — 
his spiritual church below, and if this, in part, as 
we believe, is composed of infants, then *^ the free 
gifV'* has come upon them, and therefore ought to 
have the sign of that kingdom of which they are 
recognized as members. Again, on the other hand, 
if by that term our Lord meant the kingdom of 
glory — then, it follows, if they are fit for the place 
of glorious vision, they are assuredly fit for any 
church on earth. <^ No soul living,'^ says Dr. 
A. Clarke, ^' can prove that they cannot be (by 
baptism^ benefited. Though little children, they 
are capable of receiving Christ's blessing. If he 
embraced them, should not his church embrace 
them V 

S. But is there any command for this ? 

T. In the New Testament there is no positive 
command for the admission of children into the 
church of God, and, simply so, because not neces- 
sary ; had it been necessary it would have been 
given. It is a fact which no one who believes the 
Bible will attempt to dispute, viz., that the church, 
by Divine authority, once embraced children ; and 
that this was sanctioned by Christ, when upon 
earth, is alike indisputable ; nor can it be denied, 
on scriptural principles, that this was a privilege- 



70 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

which conferred much benefit on both parents and 
children. Can we for one moment suppose that 
it is the work of the last, and only perfect dispen- 
sation to abridge the privileges of whole households 
— the children's, by denying them admission — the 
parents', by depriving them of the gracious favor of 
presenting their own immortal offspring for the 
holy ordinance of admission into the Visible Church, 
and thus prevent each party from being publicly 
laid, as they ought, under an obligation to fulfill 
their duty. 

S. May I ask, is there any command to prevent 
the recognition of juvenile membership by the 
Christian Church? 

T. No; not one to that effect. We have 
already seen that it was the custom to admit chil- 
dren, by Divine appointment, into the .Jewish 
church, and that there was nothing in the conduct 
ot Christ to discountenance it ; but, on the con- 
trary — ^^his example — circumcised the eighth day 
^his Spirit manifested towards, and his treatment 
of the httle ones, all, all ! proclaim his will concern- 
ing them, and which was well understood and ex- 
pressed by St. Peter when he said, <'The promise 
is to you and your children,''^ 

S. Why then do some Christian ministers re- 
fuse to baptize them ? 

T. It is not because God has no care for them, 
—nor that their admission into the church was at 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 71 

any time prohibited or discountenanced by Christ, 
— nor that they have no interest in the covenant of 
grace — nor that it was never customary to recog- 
nize their interest in that covenant, by their admis- 
sion into the church — nor yet, is it because there 
is a command to prevent it. 

S. Why then is it so ? 

T. The principal objection they urge against 
the precious privilege of children, is this — ** We 
find, they say, no plain command in the New Tes- 
tament to baptize them ; for if Christ had said, in 
plain terms, that it was his will and pleasure that 
children should be baptized, then we would ad- 
minister the ordinance to them.'' This objection 
may, to some, appear plausible ; but, notwithstanding, 
it is very weak, and displays very great ignorance, 
from the fact, that such a declaration as is required 
was not at all necessary to show us the will of 
God respecting the young immortals committed to 
our trust, and, therefore, we must continue to offer 
them up, ^^ in thankful hands," to the Father of all, 
until a Divine command, or prohibitory clause is 
pointed out as abridging, in this respect, our privi- 
leges. But this never has, and NEVER CAN 
BE DONE ! And why ? — simply, because there 
is no such clause either in '^ the law or testimony^^ 
— nor yet is there any thing that can possibly be 
discovered, however strict the scrutiny — in the 
spirit of the glorious Gospel of Christ to condemn 



'72 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

US for holding to what the church, even from the 
Apostohc age, has proved to be of great benefit ; it 
follows, therefore, that in this, we are justified^ not 
only by the universal and continued example of the 
church ; but above all, by that from which there 
can be no appeal to a higher judgment — the 
WORD OF God. 

S. But is it not written, (Matt. xvi. 16,] — 
'^ He that beheveth and is baptized shall be saved ; 
but he that believeth not shall be damned ?" Does 
it not, therefore, follow that children are not to be 
baptized because they cannot believe ? 

T. No; the construction of the passage will 
not admit of such an inference ; for this would 
damn, at once, all infants on the ground of their 
inability to believe. 

S. How does it lead to such a dreadful conclu- 
sion? 

T. Plainly thus, — ^^ He that believeth not 
shall be damned," — hence it follows — by such a 
mode of reasoning — that as children cannot believe, 
therefore they must be damned. You see then 
the inference is as shocking as it is unscriptural, 
and, therefore, the mode of reasoning that leads to 
it is altogether erroneous. This is evident from 
the fact, that this passage — strangely forced, to cut 
off infants from baptism — solely belongs to adults, 
of whom faith is required as a term of salvation ; 
but certainly not of infants, either as a condition of 



ii 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 73 

salvation or baptism, because both may take place 
on the ground of the free gift." — Rom. v. 18. 

S, I see then, that we may reasonably conclude 
that if a child without either repentance or faith can 
be saved, they may, of course, without either, be 
baptized. 

T. Just so; if they are fit for the one, they 
are, most assuredly, fit for the other also. 

S. It strikes me forcibly, that the objection now 
raised against infant baptism might have been 
raised, by some captious Jews, against infant 
circumcision. 

T. It is quite manifest — whatever others may 
say, or think upon the subject — that there is a 
Striking analogy. This will be seen, if you bear 
in mind the fact — that Abraham, an adult, re- 
ceived circumcision as a seal of the righteousness 
of faith ; (Rom. vi. 11 ;) for "Abraham believed 
God, and his faith was counted to him for right- 
eousness, (verse 3.) The argument then, by the 
Jewish objector, may be represented thus. — 
<' Children cannot believe as Abraham our father 
did, therefore they ought not to be circumcised." 
Now we know that children were circumcised, 
though they could not believe, nor understand the 
nature of the rite ; and should an objector still en- 
quire — '^ What profit in circumcision ?" — he is met 
7 



74 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

by the Apostle's laconic reply — <<Much every 

WAY." 

S. Are there any other passages in favor of 
the right of children to the seal of the covenant ? 

T. Yes ; in 1 Cor. vii. 15, we are informed that 
«« the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the 
wife, else were your children unclean ; but now 
are they holy." They are reputed as such on 
account of his, or her Christian faith. Though one 
should be a Christian and the other remain a hea- 
then, yet, being by marriage one flesh, the sanc- 
tity of the one, as to outward things, may be im- 
puted to the other so as to afford their children the 
privilege of baptism. " No child," says Tertulhan, 
'^ among the heathen, was born in a state of purity ; 
and it is not to be wondered at that demons pos- 
sessed them from their youth, seeing they were 
early dedicated to their service." To this, he 
thinks, the Apostle has reference when he says, 
^^The unbelieving husband is sanctified by his 
wife : else were your children unclean ; but now 
are they holy," — they are now, by baptism, dedi- 
cated to God. Blessed ordinance ! — How strictly 
ought the Church to attend to it ! 

S. But how is it ascertained that this is the 
proper meaning of the passage ? 

T. That we have not misunderstood the Apos- 
tle in the passage before us, we learn from the 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 



T§ 



words employed by him, and given in answer to 
the question put by the Corinthians respecting hus- 
bands or wives who became Christians after 
marriage, as well as from the fact, that it cannot — 
according to the analogy of faith — admit of a 
different interpretation. "The Jews,'' says Dr. A. 
Clarke, " considered a child as born out of holiness 
whose parents were not proselytes at the time of 
the birth, though afterwards they became prose- 
lytes. On the other hand, they considered the 
children of heathens horn in holiness, provided the 
parents became proselytes before the birth. All 
children of the heathen were reputed unclean by 
the Jews ; and all their own children holy,^^ These 
Statements certainly illustrate the passage. 

S. Have not some endeavored to maintain that 
the word " holy " here means legitimate ? 

T. Yes ; but without any portion of revelation 
to support it. On the other hand, Mr. Baxter has 
shown that there are not less than six hundred 
places in the Bible where the very same word sig- 
nifies a separation to God. 

S. It certainly is quite evident that the word of 
God contains much more in favor of infant baptism 
than is generally supposed. 

T. And would it not be surpassing strange if 
it were not so, since children participate in the 
benefits flowing from the general reconciliation of 



76 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

our species, and are destined, in common with our- 
selves, to live forever. 

S. May it not be said, that the very same 
reason that justifies the baptism of children is found 
to exist in the case of the unbelieving husband, who 
is one flesh with the believing wife ? 

T. It may indeed be so said ; but after all it 
will be found that the same reason does not exist 
for the admission of the unbelieving husband into 
the visible church, as for that of the children ; be- 
cause, as we have seen, the adults who had not 
been baptized were required to repent and believe 
in order to their being admitted to that ordinance ; 
while children, without either repentence or faith 
— in consequence of one of the parents having 
become a Christian — were presented to the Church 
in order to receive the seal of the covenant in 
which they are mercifully included. 

S. Have we anything m the language of the 
Apostles, in any part of their epistles that can 
make us confidently believe that children were 
members of Apostolic Churches ? 

T. Yes; we have sufficient to satisfy the 
reasonable who will consider the subject calmly. 
I wiJl now call your attention to Ephesians vi. 1. — 
Col. iii. 26, which read as follows, " Children, obey 
your parents in the Lord ; for this is right, "^"^ — 
" Children, obey your parents in all things,'*^ 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 77 

From these passages we do not only learn that 
children were members of Apostolic Churches; 
but, hkewise, that the juveniles addressed were of 
tender years ; for they were to be entirely subject 
to the control of their parents. On no other sup- 
position can we, rationally, account for the peculiar 
language of the Apostle. Think of it again — 
'' Children, obey your parents in all things." 
You see they are called children — children that in 
all things were subject to their Christian parents. 
Let those who can^ suppose this language more 
applicable to the self- governed, than to those in a 
state of non-age, 

S. Does it not appear that their non-age was 
not such as to prevent their admission into the 
Church ? 

T. Most readily, my young friend, do we as- 
sent to the truth ; but though it did not prevent 
their admission into the Church, yet it was such 
as to render them, in the estimation of the Apos- 
tle, incapable of judging for themselves, and which 
made it necessary that the paienfs will should he 
their law, 

S. Have we anything to prove that these child- 
ren were baptized } 

T. The thing of which you inquire, will not 
require much effort to make manifest ; for if it does 
not appear on the very face of the passage before 
7* 



78 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

US like a self-evident truth, it will come forth with 
irresistible force, by fair inference. That they 
were addressed as members of the Church at 
Colosse, none, I presume, will deny ; while it 
must be admitted that the only divinely appointed 
mode of induction, into the visible church of Christ, 
is by water-baptism. — If so, then it follows, they 
were baptized, and that, too, on the parent's faith, 
to whom, '^ in all things,''^ they ivere to he subject. 
Now if children, say at six, or even ten years of 
age, were formerly — through the faith of the pa- 
rents, dedicated to the service of God, — how 
much more should infants I 

S. I acknowledge, with, I trust, some degree 
of gratitude, that your explanations of texts adduced, 
— for and against, together with the mode of reason- 
ing you have adopted in support of our views, — have 
made me understand the subject much better than 
before. 

T. It is right that you should understand, and 
be deeply grounded in a doctrine so scripturally 
supported, and one in which, as a young immor- 
tal, you ought to feel yourself deeply interested. 

S. Have we now gone over all the texts that 
bear upon this subject ? 

T. No ; there is a class of texts that relate to 
household baptisms. The first to which I call 
your attention, you will find in Acts xvi. 15, " And 



SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 79 

when she was baptized, and her household, she 
besought," etc. Here, then, in the case of Lydia 
and hex family — her children, as the word means, 
we have an example almost, at least, equivalent to 
a command. Lydia and her family were bap- 
tized. Can we then suppose that the Apostles 
would have baptized children, if they had no au- 
thority for so doing ? NO ! — and if they did prac- 
tice infant baptism, — and we have sufBcient evi- 
dence to believe that they did, — then had they 
divine authority for the practice. 

S. Presuming that you will not be offended for 
my being so inquisitive, as my object is to gain in- 
formation, I ask, how is it proved that the word 
household, when applied to persons, has such a 
definite meaning as that which you have given ? 

T. Proceeding, with all cheerfulness, to give 
what information I can, as to the precise meaning 
of the word to which your question relates — I 
would just say that the Apostle has so applied it, 
as to include children ; besides, the Syriac version 
has it thus — '<^ The children of her house were 
baptized ; which shows, at least, that, in those 
early times, children were deemed such parts of 
a household as were baptized." This version is 
considered to be of Apostolic antiquity, and, of 
course, with the reasonable, will tend to silence 
every doubt. With such plain statements of a 



80 ' CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

well authenticated fact before your mind, you dare 
not attempt, were it even possible, to work your- 
self, or even permit others to lead you into the false 
belief — false it is, — that the term house, or house- 
hold, — whole houses — when applied to persons, does 
not include children. For if what we have con- 
sidered does not amount to proof positive, which, 
to me, is very satisfactory, you will see, at least, 
on what side of the question the ground of proba- 
bility lies, 

S. I see clearly, that our present version of 
the Holy Scriptures, though, in some respects con- 
sidered somewhat incorrect — not materially so, as 
touching graver matters — yet, nevertheless, with 
all the advantage taken of those few errors by our 
opponents, there is still sufficient truth contained 
in the various passages you have noticed, fully to 
substantiate the doctrine you have advanced, and 
of course, to overthrow all the sophisms which our 
sincere Baptist brethren have, or may yet advance 
in support of their theory, 

T. The fact to which you have referred, can- 
not be successfully contradicted. The present 
translation of the New Testament, does, indeed — 
and what would it be if a little better translated, 
at least, those parts of it that chiefly relate to the 
points we have considered — sufficiently uphold us 
in our views. 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 81 

S. Having scripturally and satisfactorily an- 
swered the questions I have proposed, I feel en- 
couraged to inquire, — Are there any other parts 
of the New Testament that speak of household 
baptisms ! 

T. Yes ; we have the case of the jailer, Acts 
xvi. 38. — ^^ And he took them the same hour of the 
night, and washed their stripes ; and was baptized, 
he and all his strait way." From this we learn 
that the children were baptized upon the faith of 
their parents. Observe, the Apostles addressed 
themselves personally to the trembling jailer, by 
saying — ^^ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
thou shalt be saved, and thy house.^^ Having, then 
believed, he was baptized, and all his straitway,'^^ 
' — forthwith — all his house, all his children, his 
httle ones, as the word means, when applied to 
persons. 

If, then, the members of this family had arrived 
to manhood, and the carnal mind in them had 
grown still more inveterate through unrestrained 
crimOj could these inspired men, under such cir- 
cumstances, address the head thereof by saying, 
'^ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
be saved, and thy house." Or could an enlight- 
ened Christian Missionary, on Christian principles, 
thus address the head of a heathen family, every 
branch of which having grown up to maturity, and 



82 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

confirmed in the principles and practice of hea- 
thenism ? No, indeed, it is too unreasonable to 
admit the supposition, and quite too incredible for 
our faith to receive it. 

S. Have you gone through the whole of that 
class of texts which relates to the baptism of house- 
holds ? 

T. No ; there are not less that twelve Christian 
families spoken of, in the New Testament, who all 
doubtless, received Christian baptism ; but be this 
as it may, there are five of that number — I think 
the fact must be conceded to us — to whom the or- 
dinance w^as administered. At present, however, 
we shall content ourselves by a reference to the 
baptism of the (family^ of Stephanas, as recorded in 
1 Cor. i. 16, *«I baptized," said the Apostle, «Mhe 
household family of Stephanas." And let it here 
be well observed, that there is no instance, on the 
record, of the heads of families being baptized 
where the household has not been baptized also. 
This family is spoken of as "the first-fruits^^ of 
Achaia, 1 Cor. xvi., 15; and we are informed that 
here this church was planted at the commencement 
of the Apostle's ministry, when Gallio was deputy 
of Achaia, Acts xviii. 9, 12 ; and w^hen W'C take 
into consideration the period of the Apostle's arrival 
there, w^hich, by chronologists, is fixed in the sum- 
mer of the year 51, together with the date of the 



SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 83 

epistle directed to that church, which was in the 
year 57, giving us a period of six years, or more, 
that elapsed from the time of their baptism, to the 
writing of the epistle that speaks of their Christian 
services — services to which some refer as full proof 
that they could not have been children when they 
were baptized ; but which supposed proof is brought 
forth, as you will perceive, by confounding the time 
of their baptism with the date of the epistle. — Again, 
when we take into consideration, with what has 
been advanced, the fact, that the services spoken 
of, and on which our mistaken brethren lay so much 
stress, have reference in particular to Stephanas 
and Fortunatus and Achaicus — the connection of 
the passage itself will prove — the usual objection 
raised on this ground against the admission of the 
younger branches of that family, or household, into 
the church at Achaia, by the application of the 
sign and the seal of the covenant that previously 
included them, must fall, <^ like the baseless fabric 
of a vision.''^ 

S. Well, I do rejoice to know, after all that has 
been said against the baptism of juveniles, that there 
is so much in the '^' Book of books^^ to prove the 
children's right to the simple but significant ordi- 
nance. 

T. Thankful am I that anything which may 
have been advanced, on my part, should have any 



84 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

tendency to confirm you in the belief of a practice 
that is precious to many of the wisest and holiest 
of Christians. 

S, Truly, I do view the subject in a very dif- 
ferent Hght from what I have done, having been — 
I see it now — fooHshly disturbed by the zealous 
endeavors of some who were addicted to ridicule 
the idea of infant baptism. 

T. My young friend, it is to be hoped that you 
will learn how to pity the weakness and folly of 
those who strive to exalt a religious rite above its 
intended end, and who plainly show, — if action 
speaks, — that they, in reality, do so. This is made 
manifest by their constant endeavors, to draw, and 
tease, not only those who belong to the world ; but 
also pious members of other churches, into com 
pliance with their mode. 

S. I see clearly, that as I have been introduced, 
by water baptism, into the visible church of Christ, 
it is my happy privilege — if I sustain the character 
of a true penitent, or justified believer — to approach 
the Supper of my Lord ; and that were I to submit 
to be re-baptized, it could confer no Christian privi- 
lege or benefit upon me that may not be enjoyed 
without it. 

T. Very true ; and to say the least, to repeat 
the thing is to trifle with a solemn ordinance — an 
ordinance which, even to juveniles, God has, in 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 85 

thousands of cases, blessed, and which, if followed 
up in its designs, on your part, he will bless to your 
present and eternal good. 

S. Thank God, I can truthfully say, that I 
fully rest in the belief of infant baptism as scrip- 
tural, — alsOj that baptism by sprinkhng, or pouring, 
by Divine appointment, symbolizes the spirit's bap- 
tism, and therefore do hope that I shall never be so 
weak as to be persuaded by the foolish importunity 
of any who may attempt to invalidate an ordinance, 
that has been, and still is precious, to thousands of 
as holy and intelligent souls as any who constitute 
a part of the temple of living stones. 

T. Stability of character, as it relates to Chris- 
tian doctrine, is of very great importance, and will 
prove a benefit to you as Jong as you shall live. 

S. I am pretty sure that I could not be, in any 
degree, benefitted by changing my belief, either as 
to the mode, or subjects of baptism. 

T. No, my young friend, whatever vain boasters 
may tell you — as to the great benefit of yielding to 
their entreaties — you certainly could not, by falling 
into the snare, become more wise, more holy, or 
more useful. 

S. To me, the proofs you have advanced, in 
favor of infant baptism, are highly satisfactory. 

T. We shall now sum up the evidence already 
adduced in favor of the baptismal right of children. 
8 



CD CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

This has been supported by a reference ; — First, to 
'Uhe free gift," which has extended to all our 
race. Secondly, to the ancient custom, by Divine 
authority, of receiving children into the Jewish 
Church from its first formation in the family of 
Abraham. Thirdly, to the exhortation delivered 
by St. Peter on the day of Pentecost. Fourthly, 
to the practice of the Apostles who baptized children 
upon the faith of their parents. Fifthly, to the 
fact that the covenant made with Abraham and his 
children was not repealed by the Gospel ; — shown 
(1st) by the absence of a prohibitory clause ; — (2d) 
by the conduct of Christ towards, and his declara- 
tion respecting the little ones; — (3d) by the Apos- 
tles' epistles, in which children are addressed as 
members of Apostolic churches ; — (4th) by the 
term house, or household, which, when applied to 

persons, means a family of children ; c5thly.) by 

God's unchanging love to, and continued care for 
the lambs of the flock, and, therefore, could not be 
diminished by the introduction of this last, and 
only perfect dispensation — perfect, chiefly, because, 
under it, we have a fuller display of the Divine 
benevolence to our guihy race. 

S, It may be asked — If Christian children are 
admitted to baptism, and baptism he held in lieu 
of circumcision, why then are they not admitted to 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 87 

the Lord's Supper as the Jewish children were to 
the Passover? 

T. This objection is founded upon ignorance 
of the fact, — viz., that the circumstances of the 
children who partook of the Passover in Egypt 
were very different from those under which ours 
are placed, or even that of the remnant who were 
permitted to enter the promised land. The Pass- 
over in Egypt was a token of the temporal salvation 
of every one of them from death ; and besides, it 
was necessary for their support just on the eve of 
their exodus or departure from that place. Under 
the law, be it observed, there were two ordinances 
answering to baptism and the Lord's Supper — cir- 
cumcision and sacrifices. Now, as infants were 
circumcised, but not required to offer sacrifices — 
so, under the Gospel, they are baptized, but not 
permitted to commune. 

S. I see that all truth is consistent, and, as there 
is perfect accordance in all its parts, it will bear 
the strictest test. 

T. To scrutinize most strictly its various parts, 
together with all the evidences that support it, is to 
deepen the conviction of its perfect harmony and 
agreement, 

S. Was there any alteration in the law respect- 
ing this ordinance after Israel's settlement in the 
land of Canaan ? 



88 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

T. Yes ; in Egypt the rite was observed m 
their respective houses ; but, in the Jand of Canaan, 
they were not to eat of it within any of their gates, 
— this was only to be done in the place of Jehovah's 
choice. (Deut. xvi. 2, 5, 6.) Here all their males 
were to appear three times a year, and laden with 
offerings, (verse 16, 17.) Could infants obey this 
command ? It is plain they could not, and it is 
equally plain they did not ; for Jesus himself 
attended not the Temple till he was twelve years of 
age, and though by circumcision a debtor, to do 
the whole law, yet he did not conceive that 
he was, thereby, — the ceremonial being still bind- 
ing, and which he fulfilled in part, by receiving 
that bloody rite, — obligated to attend the Passover 
at an earlier period than that mentioned by the 
Evangelist. The Jewish doctors, you will recollect, 
found him very expert at that age in answering 
questions, and therefore, as to understanding, quite 
eligible to attend the Passover. 

S. I see very clearly that it does not follow, 
that as children are fit subjects for baptism, that 
therefore they must be fit also for the Lord's Supper. 

T. It is indeed satisfactory to know that you so 
far understand the subject ; but least you should 
be puzzled with another question that is frequently 
asked, it may be well to call your attention to it — 
'' If baptism be in the place of circumcision, why 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 89 

do we baptize females, seeing none but males 
were circumcised ?" In such a case you can 
simply refer to the distinction that was made under 
the law between male and female, Jew and Greek, 
bond and free ; but that now, under the Gospel, 
'' There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither 
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female," 
— that is, — the distinction, as to national or natural 
unfitness, can have no existence under a dispensa- 
tion of universal benevolence and mercy. You 
can refer also to the fact as given by Maimonides, 
a learned Jew, who, in speaking of Gentile prose- 
lytes, says, ^' In all ages, when a heathen ('or 
stranger by nation^ was wiHing to enter into the 
covenant of Israel and gather himself under the 
wings of the majesty of God, and take upon him- 
self the yoke of the law — he must be first circum- 
cised, and secondly baptized, and thirdly bring a 
SACRIFICE ; or if the party were a woman, then she 
must he first baptized, and secondly bring a sacri- 
fice." This, then, is the initiatory rite, which, 
with the new form of words, we find in the great 
commission given by Christ to his Apostles — which 
rite was to take the place of circumcision, or in 
other words, to continue, — beijig administered 
under the laiv, — in the Church after the former 
bloody one had ceased; and which was, as we 



90 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

learn, to be administered to its proper subjects 
without distinction of sex. 

S. But have not some asserted that in no period, 
for the first three or four hundred years after Christ, 
or his Apostles, has any mention in any writings 
been made of heathen proselytes having been so 
admitted into the Jewish Church? 

T. Yes ; some, without understanding the evi- 
dence of the fact, have so expressed themselves 
upon the subject. The evidence of the fact — mark 
it well — does not only depend on Jewish records ; 
but, likewise, — ^^ It was in circulation among the 
heathen, as we learn from the clear and demon- 
strative testimony of Epictetus, who, (blaming 
individuals for their inconsistency,) has these 
words, — ' And when we see any one wavering*, 
we are wont to say. This not a Jew, but acts one. 
But when he assumes the sentiments of one who 
hath been baptized and circumcised, then he both 
really is, and is called a Jew.' " Epictetus is placed 
by Le Clerc, A. D. 104. It is said that he could 
not be less than sixty years of age when he referred 
to the baptized, and that he might have obtained 
his information thirty or forty years earlier, which 
would bring us up to the time of the Apostles. 
«^ Those who could think that the Jews could in- 
stitute proselyte baptism at the very moment when 
the Christians were practising baptism as art initia- 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 91 

tory rite, are not to be envied the correctness of 
their judgment." When proselytes were baptized, 
their children, if they had any, were also baptized, 
and which, as a Christian rite, was designed to 
symbolize their being washed from the pollution 
of idolatry. 

S. Such is the effect of the information you 
have given upon the subject before us, that I do 
believe it will render my mind, by the blessing of 
God, full proof against all the sophistry and foolish 
importunacy of the proselytizers. 

T. You are to be commended for the attention 
you have paid to the subject, and I do trust you 
will hereby be saved from that perplexity of mind 
into which some, — by the influence of, no doubt, 
sincere but restless spirits — have been unhappily 
driven — while at the same time, your heart will be 
left free to seek after daily baptisms of the Spirit, 
which, with every enlightened Christian, is all in 
all. 

S. I must say, I feel much grieved when the 
rights of juveniles are invaded — alas ! invaded 
without a scriptural warrant. 

T. Very true ; there is no scriptural authority 
for such a line of conduct. Children are, and have 
been members of Christian churches since the days 
of the Apostles down to the present time, while aJi 
of them who have died before the dawn of reason. 



92 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

have been admitted to the Church triumphant. 
And now, while we have gone thus far, I wisn you 
to understand, that within the vast universe of God, 
there are — Avhere souls exist — but two places in 
which infants are not found. 

S. My curiosity leads me to inquire where that 
can be ? — where! 

T. The places to which I refer are not both in 
- this w^orld ; one of them belongs to the disembodied 
state, where, according to divine revelation, there 
are but two places — heaven and helL To the former 
children assuredly go after this life ; but not to the 
latter. — In the loorld of woe no children can he 
found. The other place you will find among the 
Churches of Christendom, all of which — according 
to the manifest design of God — embrace children, 
except the churches of our Baptist brethren. From 
the former /the pit of destruction) they are saved 
by the Atonement of Christ, while from the latter 
they are excluded by mere human authority — were 
it Divine it could be shown — authority first assumed 
in the sixteenth century. How widely different 
are these preventives ? The Monement of Christy 
and mere human authority! The very ground 
on which children are saved from destruction, is 
that on which they gain admission into heaven ; 
but the ground of their exclusion from the churches 
of our erring brethren is, as you have seen, widely 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 93 

different from that which has saved them from per- 
dition, — this has arisen from false views respecting 
the nature of the ordinance and the privileges of 
children, which, to say the least, have not been 
abridged by ^^the bringing in of a better hope." 

From what has been advanced you will see 
that our conduct with regard to infants is in perfect 
accordance with the language of Moses to the Israel- 
ites, — ^^ Ye stand this day all of you before the 
Lord your God ; your captains of your tribes, your 
elders and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 
your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that 
is in thy camp, from the hewer of wood to the 
drawer of water : that thou shouldest enter into 
covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, 
which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this 
day : that he may establish thee to-day for a people 
unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, 
as he said unto thee, and as he has sworn unto thy 
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Deut, 
xxix. 10, 13.] In accordance also with the conduct 
of Christ, of his Apostles and of the holy angels, who 
'■ — for the heirs of salvation — ^^ are all ministerinof 
spirits, and who joyfully, by the will of God, admit 
all infants who pass through the gate of deaths to 
the exalted privileges of the church of the first- 
born in heaven. 

S. But it may be said of the passage you have 



94 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

just quoted, as it has been said of others of like im- 
port, and as contained in the Old Testament, that it 
has no bearing on the subject since the Abrahamic 
and the Christian Church are not the same, — the 
former being destroyed to make way for the latter. 
T. This it is true has been said, and in the ab- 
sence of all evidence, it is only an assertion. — But, 
in proof of the fact, that the Abrahamic and Chris- 
tian Church are but one Church under one covenant 
— the covenant of grace — I will just here refer to 
one passage, out of many which might be brought 
forward to prove this point. The expressive portion 
of the inspiration of w^hich I speak, you will find 
in Rom. xi. 2 — 17. Carefully read the whole of 
this chapter and mark well the design of the Apostle 
in directing this epistle to the Church at Rome — a 
Church composed of converted Jews and Gentiles, 
constituting one fold under one shepherd. <* God," 
says the Apostle, (2d v.) '^ hath not cast aivay his 
people, whom he foreknew^ — a remnant " was left, 
^^' according to the election of grace," — the rest 
^^were nudicially) blinded." Now, mark well ! and 
learn, (v. IT) ^^and if some of the branches be 
broken off, and thou, being a wild olive-tree, wert 
grafted in among them, and with them partakest 
of the root and fatness of the oHve-tree, boast 
not against the branches, but if thou boast, thou 
bear est not the root, but the root thee." The 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 95 

Apostle, in the passage now before us, is showing 
that the Church of God is one under each dispen- 
sation ; and the fact, that the great Head of the 
Church has broken down the middle wall that 
separated the Gentiles from the Jewish worship- 
pers in the outer court, — the visible Church — but 
goes to estabHsh it, nor can the change of the in- 
troductory ^^sign and seal" in the least invalidate 
its truth. 

The figure the Apostle employs is a strikingi 
one, that of an '« olive-tree^^ with its root, trunk, 
branches, and fatness or sap. By this he represents 
the Church, which had its root in Abraham, fastened 
firm in the divine promises, its trunk, the whole 
body of Israel, spreading its twelve great branches 
— the twelve tribes — far and wide; its '' fatness " 
or sap — gospelprivileges and gospel blessings — by 
which the Church ^^ increases with all the increase 
of God.^' We learn, from what St. Paul says, that 
through unbelief some of the natural branches were 
broken off the olive-tree, while believing Gentiles 
were grafted in and made, though wild by nature, 
to partake of the fatness — privileges and blessings 
— being no longer '' foreigners, but fellow-citizens 
with the saints and the household of God," Jeho- 
vah's design then, in changing the dispensations of 
his grace, was to favor the olive-tree — the Church — 
with more abundant seasons of grace and blessing 



96 COXTERSATIOXS OX THE 

This is pursuant to his purpose, at first, in planting 
it for the ^'heahng of the nations," but not to up- 
root OR DESTROY IT. 

S. But may it not be said that the parable of 
the fig-tree denotes the Jewish Church, and that 
the axe, having been laid to the root thereof, denoted 
that God would cut that tree down, or, in other 
words, destroy that Church to make way for a new 
one, and that these views are in perfect accordance 
with the language of St. Paul, as found in Heb. viii. 
8—13. 

T. My young friend, in entering more fully into 
the subject, you will find, that the objection which 
you have supposed might possibly be raised, or 
any other that fancy may create, as bearing strongly 
against the truth of what you have advanced, will 
be as the •' moth crushed before the wind:" for 
the force of truth must irresistibly carry all before 
it. To return then to the figure, as forming the 
ground of the objection of which you speak, ••J^g'- 
tree^''^ you must, to understand the subject aright, 
take in connection with it the vineyard spoken of. 
The tree was planted in a vineyard. What then, 
I ask, did the vineyard denote t It unquestionably 
had reference to the Jewish Church, which, we 
learn from the parable, he (^Godj had put a hedge 
about, &c., to which he sent his servants, the 
prophets, in the proper season to receive its fruits; 



SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 97 

but alas ! some of these they beat, some they stoned, 
and some they killed, — he sent others also, who 
were shamefully abused like the former, — last of 
all he sent his own Son, and, when he appeared, 
they said, << this is the heir, come, let us kill him, 
and the inheritance shall be ours." This wicked 
purpose they carried into effect. What now, I 
ask, was the reply of the chief priests and phari- 
sees, whom Jesus interrogated as to the final result, 
when the owner of the vineyard should call them 
to account ? Hear then the reply : "^He will miser' 
ably destroy those wicked men, and let out his 
vineyard to others, which shall render him the fruits 
in their seasons,''^ This, you perceive, was a com- 
mon-sense answer to the interrogatory ; had they 
said, that the owner, on his return, would destroy 
the vineyard, then, in place of punishing the guilty, 
he would have been represented as devoid of all sense 
and reason, in destroying his own property, reeking 
out vengeance on the work of his own hands ; — but 
having answered the question ^^ discreetly," *' Jesus 
saith unto them, did ye never read in the Scriptures, 
the stone which the builders rejected, the same 
is become the head of the corner : this is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ? " 
Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God 
(Church^ shall be taken from you (not destroyed) 



9 



98 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof— Mm. xxi. 33—43. 

S. I perceive then, from what you have advanced, 
that God has not destroyed his vineyard, or Church, 
which, according to his own appointment, had its 
small plants as well as full-grown trees, and is still 
to include both for the purpose of culture and 
fruitfulness. 

T. It rejoices my heart to see that you compre- 
hend and fully understand what has been said, as 
to the design of God in the erection of his Church 
in the family of Abraham, to whom the Gospel 
was preached ; and that its great Founder, (God) 
far from destroying it, or even contracting its di- 
mensions, has enlarged it immeasurably, so that all 
the wild olive-trees and plants that are without, 
may be brought in and cultivated in the dehghtful 
garden of the Lord. God would not have our 

youth to '' WASTE THEIR BEAUTIES IN THE DESERT 
AIR ! " 

S, Well, the more I consider the subject in the 
light of revelation, the more I feel astonished at 
the opposition made to the covenant seal being 
apphed to the lambs of Christ's fleck, for whom the 
chief Shepherd has a peculiar care. 

T. So, well you may be surprised at such con- 
duct, and your amazement, in this respect, will still 
increase as your mind becomes more and more en- 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 99 

lightened by the truth of God — truth which plainly 
shows that the seal of the covenant should be 
placed upon the children of behevers. Can we, 
believing the Scriptures as we do, suppose children 
to be in a worse condition under the Gospel, than 
they were under the Law ? If the law could not 
disannul the covenant made with Abraham's seed, 
who, in the nature of things, can show that the 
Gospel has accomplished such a work ? The indi- 
vidual who would attempt to prove this point, pro- 
claims — as far as his ability can do it — that, what 
we call the Gospel, is not in reahty what that term 
imports — glad tidings, good news ; but, on the 
contrary, heart-rending and melancholy tidings, 
that, in fact, our children are left to the uncove- 
nanted mercies of God, without the pale of the 
Church 1 1 

But, were there even a folio written upon the 
absence of an express command for infant baptism, 
it might indeed display some human ingenuity, but 
could never prove that the Gospel of St. Paul w^as 
widely different from, or opposed to that preached 
by Abraham. ^^No changes made by the great 
Head of the Church, either in the successive dis- 
pensations, or seals of the covenant, have altered 
its nature. To change the subjects of the seal, 
without express authority for so doing, is an inva- 
sion of the prerogatives of the King of Zion, The 



100 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

unrevoked command stands in all its original force, 
as well as does the reason of the thing. This is 
our <^ Scriptural warrant" for connecting with 
the Church of the living God, the children of those 
who believe the Gospel ; we do so, by placing on 
them the seal of that covenant of mercy, in which 
they are included. 

S. Some are of opinion, that in Gal. iv. 29, 30, 
there is a positive prohibition of infants being ad- 
mitted into the Church. 

T. True ; Mr. Campbell and others after him 
have thought so; but, though backed by dogmatical 
assertions, and followed by sophistical argumenta- 
tion, they cannot support the hypothesis. Read 
the passage as it is : <^^ But as then, he that was 
born after the flesh persecuted him that was born 
after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, 
what saith the Scripture ? Cast out the bond-woman 
and her son : for the son of the bond-woman shall 
not be heir with the son of the free woman." The 
person here cast out was the bond-woman's son. 
Now, if we inquire, why he was cast out, we have 
the reason in these words, ^< The son of the bond- 
woman shall not be heir with the son of the free 
woman."^^ What then does this passage prove ? 
It certainly proves too much for our opposing 
brethren ; for, whatever it teaches as to the unfit- 
ness of children, in the estimation of Mr. Campbell 



SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 101 

and his followers, it gives us to understand, that 
some children at least are fit to be admitted within 
the pale of the Church ; for the son of the free 
woman was not excluded. The passage, however, 
has nothing to do with the subject of baptism. 
Why, then, should any suffer their faith to be 
shaken in this blessed doctrine by the sophistry of 
its opponents? In it let your mind sweetly rest, 
until our opposing brethren produce a positive Scrip- 
tural prohibition, or a Scriptural precedent, to prove 
that the promise made to them is become void, or 
the covenant broken, in a word, that the immutable 
God of truth is falsified ; but as this never can 
be done, the basis, therefore, on which our faith 
rests, is as immovable as the pillars of heaven. 
Could infants do anything to forfeit their claim to 
the promise given to them, a promise including 
spiritual blessings .^ Or could they, by any means, 
break the covenant in which they are included, and 
thereby forfeit their membership with God's cove- 
nant people ? Impossible I impossible 1 1 

S. I learn, then, from what you have just said, 
that our dissenting brethren may dwell as much as 
they please upon the subject of believer's baptism, 
and yet leave untouched the arguments which suc- 
cessfully defend the claims of children to the seal 
of the covenant that includes them. 

T. We also, as well as our Baptist friends, believe 
9* 



102 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

in believer's baptism as scriptural ; but, though we 
agree in this particular, it does not tempt us to take 
away the covenant rite of the little ones, which 
rests entirely on different ground. As it was form- 
erly, according to the conditions of the promises of 
the covenant made with Abraham and his seed, so 
it is now under the glorious Gospel of the Son of 
God, which, in fact, is the same as that which was 
preached to Abraham. Faith, under the law, was 
required of adults, in order to receive the seal of 
the covenant ; but the incapacity of infants to 
believe, could not, and did not deprive them of that 
symbolic rite. Faith, now, is required of adults, 
in order to be baptized ; but not of infants, in order 
to their induction, by the appointed ^^sign and 
seal," into the visible Church. 

S. Some have endeavored to maintain that the 
Abrahamic covenant was not to continue, and there- 
fore was not substantially the same as the covenant 
of grace. 

T. That no mode of argument can make it dif- 
ferent from the covenant of grace spoken of by 
St. Paul, or that it was chiefly political and national, 
will appear quite evident by a proper consideration 
of the promises of that covenant, which, we believe, 
was no other than the general covenant of grace, 
though connected with temporary promises and 
privileges. Now, the first promise that God made 



1 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 103 

to Abraham we have in these words ; •'^ / will 
bless thee,'^ (Gen. xii. 2.) This promise, although 
it included temporal blessings, had, as St. Paul in- 
forms us, more particular refeience to the superior 
blessing of the sinner's justification before God, in- 
cluding, also, all the spiritual benefits arising from 
his covenant relationship with God. The second 
promise in the covenant we have in these words ; 
" Jind thou shalt be a father of many nations, ^^ 
(Gen. xvii. 4.) The Apostle confines this more 
particularly to his spiritual seed, — '-'-That the 'pro- 
raise might be sure to all the seed, not only to that 
which is by the law, but to that also which is by 
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us 
alL^^ The third promise in the covenant runs thus: 
''And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after 
thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the 
land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.''^ 
rv, 8.) These words, according to the language 
of St. Paul, included the promise of a heavenly- 
Canaan, of which the earthly was but a mere type, 
''By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, 
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, 
the heirs with him of the same promise,^' — '' they 
looked for a City which had foundations, whose 
founder ^nd maker is God.^^ (Heb. ii. 10.^ The 
fourth promise is as follows : "I will be a God to 
thee, and to thy seed after thee^ (v. 7.) Here, 



104 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

then, we have a promise, not only including the 
privileges of a visible Church, but also the most 
exalted blessings attainable on earth — -justification 
and sanctijication. The fifth promise is recorded 
thus : ^'-And in thee shall all families of the earth 
be blessed,''^ This promise, in the estimation of 
this great Apostle, comprised the justification of 
behevers in Christ of every nation. ^«And the 
Scripture, foreseeing that God v^ould justify the 
Heathen by faith, preached before the Gospel to 
Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be 
blessed. So, then, they who are of faith, are 
blessed with faithful Abraham." — Gal. iii. 8, 9. 

From what has just been said, you see clearly, 
that, notwithstanding the poKtical economy and 
nationahty of character and all necessary append- 
ages, included in the Abrahamic covenant, it em- 
bodied under all these, as types, spiritual and eternal 
blessings, well .secured — irrespective of nation — 
to all who, by faith, are the children of Abraham. 

As the Abrahamic covenant included the promise 
of spiritual, as well as temporal blessings, circum- 
cision was the sign and seal of both: ^^And he 
received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the 
righteousness of faith, which he had yet being un- 
circumcised." Again, the provision of .spiritual 
blessings was made for the descendants of Ishmael 
and Esau, as well as those of Isaac and Jacob. 



II 



SIIBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 105 

The sign and seal was not, as we learn, confined 
to Abraham's children ; but extended to all his 
servants and to all proselytes, thus showing, that 
Jehovah's design, according to various express de- 
clarations of Scripture, was, that the great pro- 
vision of spiritual blessings spoken of, should extend 
to all who believingly receive the covenant-seal, 
whether Jew or Gentile. 

Under the law of Moses circumcision was re- 
enacted, that the temporal provision of the covenant, 
according to its original design, might be confined 
to the descendants of Isaac and Jacob, but which 
could not make the promise of spiritual blessings, 
designed for all men and given 430 years before, 
of none effect. Our Lord, referring to the symbolic 
rite as re-enacted by the Jewish lawgiver, says : 
^' Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, not 
because it is of Moses, but of the fathers, and ye 
circumcise on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a 
child receive circumcision, that the law of Moses 
may not be violated, &c." (John vii. 22.) Children 
then, as you will perceive, received at once the sign 
and seal, not only of the restricted temporal blessings 
of the Abrahamic covenant, but also of the supe- 
rior spiritual blessings, which were not restricted 
to the line of Isaac and Jacob, but, likewise, ex- 
tended to all believing Gentiles. 

S. It appears then, — according to the general 



106 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

covenant of grace, — that the provision of spiritual 
blessings, both under the Patriarchal, Mosaic and 
Christian dispensations, was, and is still confined 
to believers among all nations, although its external 
rehgious privileges extend to those who are merely 
nominally so. 

T. What you have said is very correct when 
confined to adults, but cannot, in anywise, affect 
the case of infants, who have — as we have seen — 
received the sign and seal of the superior as well 
as the inferior provision of the covenant ; and who 
receive the provision of spiritual and eternal bless- 
ings, without any condition of faith on their part, 
and which they never can forfeit till they are ca- 
pable of faith, when it will — not till then — be justly 
required of them. As to adults, the faith required 
— of which circumcision was an act — had for its 
object ^*the seed of Abraham," in whom all the 
nations of the earth should be blessed. <' Which 
seed," says St. Paul, ^^is Christ ;" Christ promised, 
not yet come. Now, be it well observed, the tem- 
poral provision of the covenant and circumcision, 
its sign and seal, were only to continue till the pro- 
mised ^^Seed" should come, and by his sacrificial 
death bruise the head of the serpent, breuk down 
the middle wall that existed between Jew and 
Gentile, and thus abrogate what in the covenant 
was peculiar, that there might be one fold and one 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 107 

shepherd. Hence, circumcision as an act of that 
faith, the object of which was ^' Christ promised, 
not yet come," together with the faith of which it 
was an act, must, of course, have ceased on the 
fulfillment of the leading promise of the covenant, 
by the coming of Christ. 

S. Am I, here, to understand that w^hat was 
peculiar in the covenant, was only to continue in 
force till Christ hung upon the cross ? 

T. Yes, I wish this to be impressed upon your 
mind, and also to remember that, on the cross, Jesus 
cried, "It is finished !" that is, the ceremonial law 
is now abolished ; that, being <« contrary to us, he 
took it out of the way, naihng it to his cross." The 
middle wall thus being removed, Christ, therefore, 
after his resurrection, — that all, according to the 
piomise, in him might be blessed and brought into 
visible church-form with external religious privi- 
leges, — commanded the Gospel to be preached to 
every creature. We have now come to the very 
point at which the seal of circumcision ceased, — 
the abolition of the Jewish ceremonial, — and, in 
the great commission, that at which the new form 
of the seal was given, and which, on the day oj 
Pentecost, was first applied, 

S. It may be said, that one thing cannot take 
the place of another till the former is taken away, 
and that the behaving Jews continued to circum- 



108 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

cise their children : and certain therefore, that they 
did not have them baptized instead of being cir- 
cumcised. 

T. It will be readily granted, that one thing 
cannot take the place of another till the former is 
taken away. Circumcision, as has been considered, 
was only binding until the promised <' Seed " 
should come, — this was fulfilled in the personal 
appearance of Christ, by whom the bloody rite 
should be annuled to make way for the new seal. 
Can we then fairly infer from the fact, that believing 
Jews having still continued to circumcise their 
children, that it was not abrogated r No, com- 
mon sense forbids the conclusion. That they 
attended, after their conversion to Christianity, to 
the abrogated ceremonial, we do not deny ; but we 
say, if they performed the then obsolete right ac- 
cording to its original design, as the sign and seal 
of the restricted promise of the Abrahamic cove- 
nant still, as we have seen in force, till the promised 
<^Seed" should come — then did they proclaim by 
that act that Christ had not yet appeared, and at 
the same time profess to believe in him as already 
come ; or if they attended to it as the sign and seal 
of the Mosaic covenant, which was the former in 
both its parts, but with the added ceremonial — the 
offering of rams and lambs, occ, — obligatory on all 
who entered into that covenant by circumcision, 



\ 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 109 

then did it include the belief, that the ^^ imposed" 
ritual was still binding, and that too at the very 
moment in which they professed faith in him in 
whom it received its completion ; a law, which, as 
we learn, was to be in force until the promised 
Seed should come, '' the Seed," then, according to 
promise, having; come, '' the law waxed old and 
vanished away. ''^ 

From St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, it is 
evident that there were some who maintained that 
an observance of the ceremonial law of Moses, 
united with a general belief in Christ as the true 
Messiah, was necessary to their justification before 
God. Against a belief so ruinous in its tendency, 
the Apostle had to use strong language, and that 
he had to reiterate in these words, ^^I testify again 
to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor 
to do the whole law ; whosoever of you are justified 
by the law, ye are fallen from grace,"^^ — Gal. v. 3, 4. 

You will now have learned, from what has been 
advanced, that circumcision, as practised by con- 
verted Jews in the Apostohc age, does not prove 
that Christ did not take it away, and that were we 
to maintain the contrary it would contradict the 
Apostle, who has, in the most express terms, proved 
that it was not then any longer binding, either on 
Jew^ or Gentile. It may, however, be asked, why 
did St. Paul circumcise Timothy if he knew that 
10 



110 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

rite was then obsolete ? or how are we to reconcile 
his conduct with his condemnation of the practice ? 
To meet this question, and to remove the difficulty 
connected with it, let it be well observed that the 
Apostle took two views of circumcision — the 
stronger view you have in the passage already 
quoted, (Gal. v. 3, 4.) The milder one he enter- 
tained on the ground of expediency when he cir- 
cumcised Timothy. (Acts xvi. 3.^ Circumcision 
in this case could not have been performed by St. 
Paul to answer its original design, forasmuch as it 
could not have been done innocently, or consistently 
with his own stronger and strongly expressed view 
of the subject. (Gal. v. 2 — 4.) This rite, by the 
Christian Jews, was practised to preserve their 
national distinction, in which, as Jews, they were 
accustomed to glory. We are, then, informed 
that the Apostle circumcised Timothy — his mother 
being a Jewess — because of the Jews in those 
quarters, i, e. because of their national prejudices ; 
'< for they knew that his father was a Greek." 

As to the assertion, that the believing Jews who 
had their children circumcised did not have them 
baptized, I must say, that it is one unsupported by 
reason or revelation. We might just as well assert 
that because the parents had been circumcised they 
did not get baptized. Why might they not just as 
well have both seals, th© old and the new ; applied 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. Ill 

to their children, as to themselves. If the same 
reason which led to their being circumcised, led 
them to circumcise their children, would not the 
same motive and principle which prompted them, 
as Jews, to be baptized, induce them to have their 
children baptized also ? 

S. It may be said that the substitution of infant 
baptism for the immersion of believers destroys the 
significancy of the ordinance. 

T. It may indeed be so asserted ; but can never 
be proved. This assertion of our opposing bre- 
thren is made upon the supposition that immersion 
strikingly represents the union of believers with 
Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection ; and 
that by it, all who religiously submit to be immersed, 
declare their belief in the resurrection of Christ, 
and of all in him. But where is the resemblance 
between immersion and the death of Christ ? In 
what does it consist ? It certainly cannot consist 
in the body being put under water ; for Christ's 
death took place upon a mount, and when elevated 
upon the cross to which his tender flesh was nailed. 
And where is the resemblance between that mode 
and the burial of Christ? Was not the body of 
Christ laid in a sepulchre of solid rock, where it 
was secured by priestly precaution until the third 
day ? There is nothing then in immersion to re- 
semble any thing in the burial of Christ, except by 



112 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

the sudden popping of the body under water, it is 
concealed for a moment from the view of man. 
But how does immersion represent the resurrection 
of Christ ? It may be said that immersion does 
not, but that emersion,, which immediately follows 
it, does represent the rising of Christ out of the 
excavated rock. Here, then, we have two distinct 
things, — immersion and emersion, — maintained 
even by those who positively affirm that the word 
baptize means immersion and nothing else ! — not 

EVEN EMERSION ! ! 

S. If then the baptism of behevers by immer- 
sion does not represent the death, burial, and 
resurrection of Christ, are we to suppose that the 
baptism of infants by the mode of our choice, re- 
presents these things ? 

T. No ; but on the contrary, you are to un- 
derstand that we do not contend that infant 
baptism by sprinkling or pouring — I say, sprink- 
ling or pouring, for both scripturally represent 
the <^ coming down" of the Spirit, or as active 
in the ^' one baptism" spoken of by St. Paul, — 
represents all, or even any of the things which our 
opponents say immersion symbohzes ; but w^e do 
maintain that the baptism of infants by the apph- 
cation of water in the name of the Triune God, is 
not only a visible and pubhc reception into, but 
also a visible and public acknowledgment, by the 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 113 

Church of Christ, that they are incladed in God's 
gracious covenant of mercy — hkewise, of the 
'^bestowment of a title to all the grace of the cove- 
nant as circumstances may require, and as the mind 
of the child may be capable, or made capable, on 
receiving it ; and as it may be sought in after life 
by prayer, v^hen the period of reason and moral 
choice shall arrive." In a word, it is a sign far 
more significant in its form than that of circum- 
cision, because it more strikingly represents one of 
the chief blessings of the higher branch of the 
Abrahamic covenant, viz., the baptism of the Spirit, 
of which we are sure children are capable : for 
Christ took infants in his arms and blessed them, 
not formally but efficaciously. 

This ordinance gives the enlightened parents to 
understand that, if they train up their offspring as 
they ought to do, God will not only be their God, 
but ^^he God of their seed after them ; and also 
that they do hereby publicly profess their belief in 
the doctrine of original sin, that children do not 
bring into the world with them a nature pure : but on 
the contrary, a natural bias to evil, — in the doctrine 
of regeneration, which, in fact, is typified in the 
ordinance by the application of water, and in which, 
by the presentation of their offspring, they likewise 
express their determination to attend to the Apos- 
tolic injunction, to ^^ bring up their children in the 
10^ 



114 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

nurture and admonition of the Lord." God designs 
that the ordinance should tend to parental fidehty. 
Now, in consideration of these things, — others of like 
nature might be advanced— 1 would here inquire. 
How can the public administration of baptism to 
infants — a thing so solemn and significant in itself, 
so wise and holy in its design and tendencies, — 
destroy the significancy, or, in the least, affect the 
baptism of behevers ? The assertion that it does 
so, is groundless ; and the brother who so expresses 
himself displays, to say the least, great ignorance of 
its 7'iature and design. True ; it may be said again, 
and again, that it does not represent the death of 
Christ; though — *^In the mouth of two or three 
witnesses let every word be established" — it repre- 
sents it just as much as immersion does ; but after 
all, what has this to do with the design of baptism ? 
That it has, — from the revelation of God — NO 
MAN LIVING CAN PROVE. When did 
Christ ever institute, under the Gospel dispensa- 
tion, any ordinance as commemorative and repre- 
sentative of his death, except the sacrament of his 
Holy Supper ? Is it not by this, and this alone, 
as a divinely appointed ordinance that we are to 
show forth his death until he come ? 

S. But it is said that infant baptism makes one 
of the commands of God of none effect, because, 
were the practice of infant baptism to become uni- 



i 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 115 

versal among those who bear the Christian name, 
there obviously would not be an instance in all 
Christendom in which an individual would obey 
the divine command to be baptized. 

T. The command to which your refer is that, 
as I suppose, contained in the great commission. 
Let it then be well understood that this command 
was given to the Apostles exclusively as the proper 
administrators of the ordinance — of course not to 
the people, and this command they obeyed. The 
personal ministry of Christ and that of his Apostles 
during that ministry were confined to the Jews, 
but after Christ, by his death, had broken down the 
middle wall, and a little before his ascension, he 
gave his Apostles to understand that their ministry 
was to be no longer confined to the Jews, but that 
the heathen world lay before them — that into it 
they were to enter and preach the Gospel to every 
creature, giving all to understand that the promised 
Seed was come ; in whom all the families of the 
earth should be blessed — observe — all families — 
those including old and young, and first, by the tenor 
of their commission, they were to administer the 
ordinance of baptism to all who would believe what 
they were authorized to proclaim. From this you 
will learn that behever's baptism must necessarily 
have preceded the baptism of infants, and must 
still continue to do so, wherever the Gospel is first 



116 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

embraced in heathen lands ; then, but not till then, 
^;\-ill the ministers of Christ find themselves in cir- 
cumstances exactly similiar to those under which 
the Apostles acted when they preached the Gospel 
to the Gentiles, who, before that time, had not 
heard its blessed sound. Where then is there a 
command in the commission, or any part of the 
New Testament, that infant baptism makes of none 
effect? There is not one. The infants of those 
heathens, to whom the Apostles carried the glad 
tidings, could not have been, nor can the infants of 
heathens now be baptized without previous obedience 
to the implied, but not to them, expressed command 
in the commission. Let us suppose, for a moment, 
that the practice of infant baptism were a univer- 
sal thino" throuD-hout Christendom. "What then ? 
True ; there would in that case be no adults to 
receive the ordinance ; and is it not to be regretted 
that there should be found in Christian lands, those 
who were not in infancy, presented in thankful hands 
to receive the seal and sign of the covenant — alas ! 
there are many — far too many — brought up within 
its precincts who have not been baptized in infancy ! 
Now, were the reverse of all this the case, then 
would it prove that the command had been uni- 
versally obeyed, and that the design of the parents' 
baptism has been followed up with regard to their 
children, who, it is expected, when arrived to the 



1 



I 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 117 

age of reason, and in carrying out the design of 
their own baptism, or early dedication to God, will 
use their influence and property to have the object 
of the great commission cariied out in heathen 
lands, that the time may come when all the nations 
of the earth shall be Christianized. Suppose then 
again, that behevers baptism had ceased through- 
out the whole world by the universal practice of 
infant baptism, it would only prove, as we have 
seen, that the command — by the cheerfully willing 
ambassadors and co-operation of the well instructed 
parents — had been universally obeyed, and that its 
design was so far accomplished as that the whole 
world of mankind were now included within the 
pale of the Church, just as all the Jews were with- 
in the Jewish Church when settled in the land of 
Canaan, and when adult circumcision Avith them 
had ceased by the general practice of infant cir- 
cumcision. From what has been said, it will no 
doubt forcibly strike you that — according to the 
mode of reasoning adopted by our opponents — a 
captious Jew might have objected against infant 
circumcision thus, — ^^ The practice of infant cir- 
cumcision makes one of the commands of God of 
none effect, because were the practice to become 
universal among the Jews, there obviously w^ould 
not be an instance among us, in which an individual 
would obey the command given to our father 



118 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

Abraham to be circumcised.'' You are now to 
understand that the circumcising of infants, accord- 
ing to the design of God, became the universal 
practice in the Jewish Church, and of course, 
adult circumcision, in which, hke baptism, the 
practice commenced, then ceased, except in the 
case of proselytism. And should not aduh bap- 
tism cease by the practice of infant baptism, ex- 
cept in the case of heathen proselytes ? The seal 
of the covenant, as we have seen, was changed by 
Divine authority ; but without the same authority 
we dare not make any change in the subjects of 
the seal, and he who would attempt it assumes the 
prerogatives of Zion's lawgiver. *« The unrevoked 
command stands in all its original force, as well as 
does the reason of the thing." When Christ as 
Head of the Church had changed the seal, he gave 
his Apostles orders — when opening the gate of the 
common salvation to the Gentiles, by preaching to 
them the Gospel — to apply the seal to all families, — 
so it should be understood — the heads of which 
believe like Abraham of old, who, in consequence 
of that faith received the old seal, and in whose 
Seed all the families of the earth should he blessed. 
You will not find then the words of the commis- 
sion, when understood in accordance with the whole 
analogy of faith on this point, opposed to, or in 
anywise discordant with what we have advanced 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 119 

upon the subject. These words are as follows, — 
'' Go ye, therefore, and teach ALL NATIONS, 
baptizing THEM," etc.— Matt, xxviii. 19. 

S. I do beheve what you have advanced — 
here my mind finds a quiet harbor of rest — to be 
perfectly correct, at least in kll that is essential as to 
mode or subject^ and that it leaves, in relation 
thereto, the harmony of the Scriptures unbroken ; 
but as it may be objected that infant baptism tends 
to obliterate the distinction between Christian 
Churches and the unregenerate world, permit me 
to ask, — How are we to meet the objection ? 

T. It is highly proper that you should have 
your mind — not to indulge in a caviling spirit — 
well armed against the wily attempts of those 
sincere, but mis-guided brethren who would if they 
could, by such futile objections, work all who have 
been baptized in infancy, into a feverish desire for 
a second introduction into the Visible Church. 
This, we judge, is the design of those who throw 
out the objection of which you speak, an objection 
founded on the supposition that children belong to 
the world ; but which we — while believers in the 
doctrine of original sin — totally deny. We found 
this confident mode and firm tone of expression 
upon the doctrine of '' the free gift," which, by the 
obedience of Christ, has come upon them- — that 
they are interested in the covenant of grace, and 



120 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

therefore belong to the kingdom of God, the Church 
below and the Church above. On this ground 
then were they to die in infancy, they would, with- 
out either repentance or faith on their part, gain 
admittance into heaven ; but should they live to 
the age of moral sense and reason, and then not 
make choice of religion, and so grow up without 
showing any evidence of the fear of God, no Chris- 
tian Church exercising proper discipline would, in 
such a case, acknowledge them members. And, 
alas ! how many, since their admission, at an earlier 
or later period, into the Church, have by their own 
disobedience forfeited the great privilege of mem- 
bership, and living and dying in this state, must be 
shut out of heaven ! Suppose then they sincerely 
repent, — Should they not be admitted again into 
the same Church, or any other Christian Church, 
without bemg re-baptized ? 

You now plainly see that the practice of infant 
baptism does not tend to obhterate the distinction 
between Christian Churches and the ungenerate 
world, that the practice of Pedobaptist Churches 
generally, which, to say the least, can boast of as 
much piety as those of our dissenting brethren, 
have not as yet, either on a large or small scale, 
shown itself to be such a leveler in its tendency as 
to break down the hne of demarcation between the 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 121 

Church and the world — the world itself being wit- 
ness. 

That much evil has resulted from the neglect of 
the important duties arising out of the nature and 
design, as well as those immediately connected 
with the administration of the ordinance is a 
lamentable truth ; but the abuse of the thing can- 
not, with any degree of propriety, be brought as an 
argument against its scriptural design. Now where 
the Apostolic injunction is attended to, and proved 
by the successful training up of children ^' in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord," to be practica- 
ble, ministers in such a case can consistently, with 
scriptural precedents before them, address the pre- 
viously inducted and devoutly consecrated juve- 
niles as members of the Church, as " in the Lord ;" 
but not those adults who have forfeited their mem- 
bership ; for, having once done so, the fact of their 
being at a former period admitted, when free from 
the guilt of actual transgression, as members of the 
Visible Church, will not prevent their expulsion. 

From what has been said, in answer to the ob- 
jection which you desired me to meet, you will 
have learned, that those who make themselves so 
unfortunate as to have no name or place among 
God's people, do, at the same time, forfeit the 
blessings of the covenant of which their baptism 
was the sign, and can never regain their interest 
11 



122 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

in that covenant without repentance and faith. On 
their repentance they may and ought to regain 
admittance, without the re-baptism of water, into 
the visible Church ; but without faith they cannot 
receive the Spirit's baptism, by which alone we 
enter the true spiritual or invisible Church, 

It is incumbent on all ministers of Christ, zeal- 
ously to guard all under their influence against 
resting in mere forms or ceremonies, or exalting a 
visible baptism, connected with visibihties — active 
hands, the entire human form, water pure or im- 
pure — above its proper place, and earnestly to exhort 
all who have arrived to the age of moral choice, 
heartily to seek the thing signified by that simple, 
but, by some, much abused and neglected rite — 
water baptism. 

In guarding you here against the wiles and un- 
dignified intrigues of our much mistaken brethren, 
I would sincerely advise you to cultivate towards 
them a spirit of Christian charity ; but at the 
same time you will have to watch their move- 
ments as to yourself, not only when they act the 
part of the importunate widow, but also when they 
seem less bent on drawing you from the efficient 
ministry of your choice. They will, no doubt, 
inquire — '^How can you possibly keep yourself — 
there being so many things to induce and persuade 
— from following the example of our blessed Sa- 



SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 123 

viour, who was immersed by John the Baptist in 
Jordan ? " If, to such an interrogatory, you give a 
passing notice, you can simply say, — The Scrip- 
tures nowhere teach that Christ's body was buried 
in water to prefigure his subsequent deposit in the 
excavated rock — nor is there any man hving that 
can prove that Jesus was immersed, because there 
is no part of the New Testament that furnishes the 
information, nor is there any law, moral or ceremo- 
nial, that he could fulfill by such a mode ; but, in 
whatever way he was baptized, it certainly was 
not intended as an example for us, except so far as 
it relates to general obedience. 

I will now suppose that you are in the character 
of a true penitent, or young believer in Christ, 
which I trust you are, — in such a case your mind 
will be taken up with the work of the Spirit in the 
heart, which will, of course, engross your thoughts. 
Would it not then be a very great evil for any one 
of our much mistaken brethren, — could they pre- 
vail in directing your thoughts to the subject of 
water, to have you borne down by the low chilling 
current ? You know it would, and that they who 
use their influence so to do, cannot, whatever may 
be said to the contrary, be your real friends. True, 
they may indeed be very sincere, and may speak too 
upon the subject with all the gentleness of a loving 
Christian, — but, you must neither be influenced on 



124 COXYERSATIOXS ON THE 

he one hand by ignorance or dogmatism, — nor, on 
the other, by the plausibleness of the arguments, or 
the pJoquence, or even the piety, however deep, of the 
advocate of a system long since condemned by the 
universal Church, and which manifestly has no foun- 
dation in Divine revelation. Experience, too, will be 
made to yield its quota in support of the darling hy- 
pothesis, and hence you will be informed, that by 
submitting to have your body buried in the watery 
grave, you will be greatly benefitted ; that you will 
have more hght, that you will not be in bondage, 
&c., — that they have themselves proved this and 
hundreds more have had it happily ratified in their 
personal experience. But, though this should be 
asserted even a hundred times over, there is not, I 
assure you, a blessing of which they speak — if 
included in the covenant of grace — that you may 
not have without the sinful folly of being re-bap- 
tized. Suppose, then, you were now — having 
never been baptized — to present 3^ourself as a can- 
didate for the ordinance of baptism, you certainly 
could not, understandmg the subject as you do, 
make choice of a mode which would, like an dec- 
trie shock, disturb or confuse the mind, which 
should then be calmly, in the exercise of faith, 
stayed upon God. Can then the rejection of a 
mode, productive of such an unpleasant effect, and 
the preference of and submission to one that is 



SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 125 

scriptural — the mode of our choice — and one which 
cannot in the least prevent that calmness of spirit, 
which is essential to that rational and acceptable 
service, which Jehovah requires at our hand, de- 
prive you of any blessing ! No ! no ! ! my young 
friend, though ministers and people unite to tell 
you so,— THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE ! ! ! By way 
of proof I will here call your attention to a single 
case, not the only one that came under my own 
observation. The case to which I refer, was that 
of an individual, who, having never seen the rite 
of baptism performed, except by immersion, re- 
quested to be baptized in that way ; but the minister 
could not conscientiously comply, as that mode, 
being in his judgment defective, w^ould not repre- 
sent the thing intended, and what never should be 
lost sight of, — the work of the Spirit — His active 
operations, as well as the effect of those operations. 
However, being governed by the purest motives and 
principles, he submitted to have it scripturally ad- 
ministered, by the expressive mode of pouring.—. 
What then was the immediate result of his godly 
submission? Just what might be expected; for God 
would indeed be faithful to his promises and faithful 
to his Son, — it was stamped with the Divine signa' 
ture, — the man was blessed, unspeakably blessed, 
nor is it likely that he will ever forget that me- 
morable occasion. 

11* 



126 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

I Will now call your attention to another method 
that some of our erring brethren adopt, which, 
though simple in itself, yet, being mischievous in 
its results, it is well that you should be put on your 
guard. They will, if they cannot succeed by any 
other means, advise you to make it a matter of 
prayer, knowing, I suppose, as they do, that, if 
they could but get you to comply, in this respect, 
with their request, it would, in the nature of things, 
work, imperceptibly, the idea of immersion into 
your mind ; thus would they press your very de- 
votions into their service, causing, if possible, their 
fearfully magnified god, aqua, to intrude upon those 
golden moments of your time, which should, you 
know, be exclusively employed in wrestling with 
the one living and true God; for what is of in- 
finitely greater importance to you than any work 
performed by a fellow mortal — the full salvation 
of the deathless, blood-bought soul I 

Dismiss, then, at once and forever, such low, 
cold and watery thoughts from your mind, should 
they unhappily enter, as impertinent intruders 
upon the hours of your closet devotions. Re-bap- 
tism, then, in the name of the Father, and of the 
Sen, and of the Holy Ghost, being sinful ; with 
some, we hope, the sin of ignorance should not, 
at any time, be made a subject for prayer, and, 
indeed, to do so, makes it at once a matter of con- 



SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 127 

science, — a supposed duty, on which the mind as 
yet cannot decide, until God, in answer to prayer, 
is pleased to make it plain. This, again, supposes, 
that the Scriptures do not sufficiently teach it, other- 
wise no soul could possibly be induced to pray to 
Almighty God to make known to their minds in 
particular what he had already clearly revealed to 
them in his word. From this, therefore, we con- 
clude, that the weak-minded are placed in an un- 
enviable situation, as subjects of doubt, and fear,^ 
and tender sensibilities ; by an influence, underived 
either from Divine revelation or the Spirit of God. 
Not from the Scriptures of truth, for they do not 
exphcitly teach the supposed duty; nor yet from 
the Holy Spirit, for there are many who have given 
themselves up to his guidance, and though they 
<^live and walk in the Spirit," they are not thereby 
inclined to the formality of a second introduction 
into the Visible Church. No Christian, who un- 
derstands as he ought the nature of the simple, 
but significant ordinance, could ever think of this, 
or at any time suffer his mind to be brought into 
bondage, or in the least disturbed about what is at 
the best, in its own nature, as extremely foolish as 
it is hypothetical in character. 

The object of the efforts put forth by some of 
our dissenting brethren is, to do and undo ; to get, 
if possible, the whole of Christendom just like the 



128 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

troubled ocean, that it may be stilled again by a 
plunge of all the unimmersad in what is called 
*Uhe blessed pool," &c. That this may be ac- 
complished, everything, in fact, is done, that tends, 
according to the judgment of the administrator, to 
make the celebration of the ordinance as captivating 
as possible ; words, gestures and singing, are all 
made subservient to the accomplishment of this 
end ; but, after all, 1 must say, it is somewhat 

*'Like ocean into tempest tost, 
To waft a feather or to drown a fly." 

Should you, my young friend, at any time be 
led by curiosity to view the simple captive go forth, 
under the supposition that they are following an 
example set them by the great Head of the Church, 
when they submit to be plunged in river, pond, or 
lake, there can be no fear, in such a case, of your 
being favorably excited by any effort that may be 
made, as long as you consult the Scriptures, reason^ 
and ecclesiastical history on the subject. True ; 
there may and ought to be sympathy felt for and 
manifested towards the parents and relations of 
those, who are drawn away from the Scriptural 
principles they have been taught, by such unto- 
ward conduct. If you consult the Scriptures, you 
will find there is neither command nor precedent 
for anything of the kind. If you consult 7'eason, 






SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 129 

you will condemn it as being, to say the least, in 
many cases very indelicate and imprudent^ and in 
every case ALTOGETHER UNNECESSARY. 
If you consult ecclesiastical history^ you will see, 
that those who are fond of ostentation, appearances, 
sounds, &c.,in connection with religious ceremonies, 
should go at once to the Church of Rome to be 
gratified. How truly wonderful the means this 
Church employs to draw the unsuspicious into her 
Convents, and which, alas ! has prevailed with 
many to their ruin ? Beware ! ah ! beware ! ! of 
all IMPOSING and unscriptural religious ceremO' 
nies J 1 1 

Be not deceived by any specious mode of reason- 
ing which may be advanced to justify such conduct. 
Some, for instance, may attempt to justify it thus, 
•— ^^ Beheving as we do that there is a Divine com- 
mand to be baptized, — is it not our duty then to 
use strenuous efforts to have all to obey what is 
binding upon all?" The line of conduct here 
alluded to is attempted to be justified on the ground 
that immersion is a commanded duty, whereas, in 
fact, there is no such command in all the '' Book^^ 
of God. But suppose it was as plainly commanded 
as is the strict and religious observance of the Sab- 
bath contained in the Decalogue — why then should 
there be more anxious desire manifested — mani- 
fested by combined, untiring and strenuous efforts 



130 



CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



for universal obedience to the former, than there 
is for the observance of the latter command ? The 
reason I think, to speak in charity and the bounds 
of truth, will be found in this— obedience to the 
former will swell the number of their members; 
but were they to contend ever so zealously for the 
sanctity of the Sabbath it would not produce the 
same result which, with some, is ^^ all in all." 
It is a lamentable fact that some— thank God, not 
all !_who obey the supposed Divine command, are 
altogether careless as to the observance of the 
Christian Sabbath. 

And now, my young friend, though I have 
spoken so much against that line of conduct which 
you know is highly reprehensible, and which has 
made it, as I conceive, a duty on my part, accord- 
ing to my ability, to guard you against the evil to 
which it tends, I would now earnestly advise you 
to cultivate to the utmost of your power a spirit of 
Christian charity towards thosQ who are so char- 
acterized. 

Think, frequently think of that solemn and highly 
interesting period of time when free from the 
guilt of actual transgression, you were baptized in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. When the water was apphed by the 
minister in the adorable name of the Triune God, 
«^It was as though he said, < We give this child 



SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 131 

to God the Father;' and God the Father had 
answered, so that all the congregation could hear, 
^ I will love and bless this child, if it does not refuse 
my love now promised to it ;' and the minister had 
added, ' We give this child to its Saviour, Jesus 
Christ ;' and Christ had answered, « Of such is the 
kingdom of God ; — I love them that love me, and 
they that seek me early shall find me :' ' We give 
this child to the Holy Ghost ;' and the Holy Ghost 
had breathed his blessing upon you. 

<^ God remembers your baptism. He has often 
looked to see if your parents teach you, and pray 
with you, as they promised they would do when 
they carried you away from the baptism, as a child 
given them to bring up for heaven. 

'' God remembers your baptism. Perhaps you 
pray to Him when you are alone. He hears your 
voice and looks into your heart, and knows how 
you feel. For when you were baptized He made 
this promise, ' If thou seek me I will be found of 
thee.' 

««Now, though you are young, God knows you 
and sees you. The same God that watched the 
infant Moses when he lay in his ark by the river 
side, and kept him safe till the king's daughter 
found him and gave him back to his mother, 
watches you when you sleep, and when you wake, 
and all the day long. The God who was in the 



14& CONVERSATIONS ON THE 

Temple where Samuel slept, and who spoke in the 
night, and said, ' Samuel ! Samuel ! 1' now sees 
you ; and indeed you are never out of His sight. 

'' You may have grown up beyond childhood, 
and have long been old enough to know and love 
God. He gave you to pious parents that you might 
early be taught to love and fear Him. It was a 
special favor to you that God gave you to pious 
parents. 

<^ Have you ever given yourself to God to be His 
child .^ Do you love God, and do you hope that 
He loves you ? Are you ever so happy as when 
you have prayed, confessing your sins and asking 
God to forgive and love you 1 Do you believe and 
hope that when you die God will take you to 
heaven, and does it give you joy to think of being 
in heaven with God ? If so you have the highest 
' reason to be thankful and happy. What return 
can you make to God for His kindness to you ? It 
is your duty and privilege to devote yourself to 
God's service and glory. It should be your great 
question, How can I best please God } Make this 
question the rule by which you live, and by which 
you form your plans for future life. For you are 
not your own ; you have been consecrated to God ; 
you belong to the Father, and to the Son, and to 
the Holy Ghost, by the covenant of baptism. What 
an honor to be thus related to your Maker ! Now 



i 



SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 149 

let it be your chief desire to do and be that which 
will best please God. 

'^ If you ask Him to direct you for this purpose 
He will be pleased to do it. You remember the 
story of Solomon. God appeared to him in the 
night and said, Ask what I shall do for thee. And 
Solomon prayed for heavenly wisdom that he might 
in the highest and best manner glorify God. And 
God said, because thou hast not asked riches, wealth, 
nor honor, noj long life — wisdom and knowledge 
is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches 
and wealth and honor. 

" Now God says, * In all thy ways acknowledge 
me, and I will direct thy paths.' If you thus 
acknowledge Him, you may confidently say, ' Thou 
will guide me by thy counsel, and afterwards 
receive me to glory.' 

«^ Besides your daily prayers of consecration to 
God, it will be profitable for you to find out the 
day when you were baptized, and keep that day 
yearly, as a special seast!)n of thanksgiving, and of 
renoAving your consecration to God. You will not 
forget to do the same on your birth-day, consecrating 
with solenin prayer, your body, soul and spirit to 
God, and thinking how solemn and important a 
thing it is to to have been born ; and that the favor 
of God alone can prevent it from being an ever- 
lasting and dreadful curse, and that with His bless- 
12 



150 CONVERSATIONS, &C. 

ing, eternal life in heaven will be the dehghtful 
and glorious consequence. 

^^ Thus, till you die, as we trust you will through 
eternity, bless and praise God for your baptism, 
and renew that consecration through life, and in 
your dying hour, which, in the morning of your 
life was like the dew of heaven upon your spirit.'* 

Then, when you thus not only keep the sign and 
seal of the covenant once delivered to the saints before 
your mind ; but also, earnestly seek the blessings 
of that covenant ; your conscience will be sprinkled 
from all dead works, to '^' serve the living and true 
God." — Amen. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Onve 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



?'3 



